Eric Marshall, Hero and Friend

A hero died Wednesday. He wasn’t just a hero for me. He was a hero to all that knew him. Eric Marshall defied the odds. He was more than just a great basketball player. He was a father. He was a husband. He was committed to the betterment of those around him. Somehow, in this self-serving world, Eric found a way to think of others far more often than he did himself.

He shouldn’t have made it through college with the success and impact he did. How many guys have a child the first week of their freshman year, yet still manage to maintain a solid GPA, a successful Division I basketball career, and be integrally connected to many other students and activities on campus? I’ve heard of few doing such a thing, and none who remain intensely committed to raising their child well.

And what about after his dream of playing any type of professional basketball ended? After he tore the second ACL? Was he devastated? Did he give up on life, and just spend the rest of his days drifting aimlessly like so many others who have faced the same reality? No, Eric had perspective. He knew that basketball in and of itself was absolutely worthless to all of us. It’s a sport. It’s merely a game. It’s nothing more—unless it is used for a greater good. And Eric knew this.

And, finally, Eric had a vision of reality that many of us don’t. He recognized that his first son’s mother was not someone to consider marriage with. He wasn’t proud of the out-of-wedlock birth, but he knew that this just wouldn’t work. So he waited. And eventually he found a woman worth waiting for, and he married Tanya and they were blessed to have a child together as well. Isaiah could grow up around a stable home with his new brother Caleb because his father had the fortitude to embrace a hard reality, while trusting in a more hopeful future.

How did Eric live in a way that was so counter-cultural? How does a young man swim upstream, against the current of our world? He was rooted in Jesus Christ, grounded in the very grace that saved him not long after that first week of his freshman year. I was privileged to know Eric through college, and to see him mature into a man of God. His growth in the faith and trust in the Lord enabled him to live as he did. Basketball became a tool to share the gospel, which is why he was playing Wednesday night. He wanted to use his gift to impact the world, and he did. He wanted to invest his life into the lives of other men, and he did. He wanted to love Tanya, Isaiah, and Caleb well, and he did that too.

Eric Marshall wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t without his faults and flaws. None of us are. But he lived a redeemed life, one that was passionate for the gospel. That is was set him apart. He didn’t just make it through life; he lived hard, and he lived well. His is a life we should all emulate. May we pursue that same life, may we pursue our Savior, Jesus Christ.