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Liberty’s first football player to turn pro reaches Canada’s sporting realm for Christ
May 26, 2020 : By Jacob Couch - Office of Communications & Public Engagement
Liberty University alumnus Steve Kearns has been faithfully sharing the love of the Lord in the province of Ontario, Canada, for over 30 years.
Kearns was born in Brazil but his family moved back to their home country of Canada so that he and his twin brother, Dan, could attend high school there. The brothers excelled in all sports but stood out when they stepped onto the football field.
Following his senior season of high school in 1976, Kearns expressed interest in attending a small, new Bible college in Lynchburg, Va. — Liberty Baptist College (now Liberty University). Liberty offered him a football scholarship to play tight end, and the talented receiver accepted.
“I had never been to Lynchburg before, so when I arrived at Treasure Island, I thought that it was just the place that we would be staying for football training camp,” Kearns said. “But then I found out that it was my dorm and it would be where I was going to live for the next few years.”
(The college’s island property on the James River was used for football practice and student housing in the 1970s.)
Upon arrival, the physical education student wasted no time in making an impact on the field for his new team. In his finest season, the 6-foot-2-inch athlete hauled in 27 receptions, seven for touchdowns.
“We were primarily a running team but, fortunately for me, the tight end was the key guy in the passing game,” he said. “I was the leading receiver my sophomore and junior years, and I averaged 21 yards per catch my sophomore season.”
During Kearns’ senior season, the Canadian Football League (CFL) took interest in the humble product of Ontario. He was selected by the Calgary Stampeders in the 1980 CFL Draft, becoming Liberty’s first football player to be drafted professionally. He was released following training camp but was signed by the British Columbia Lions, where he spent his rookie season, before being traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where he would finish his career.
After retiring from the CFL in 1985, Steve and his wife, Georgie (’80), began to work with Athletes in Action, a sports ministry that develops professional athletes spiritually to become godly leaders in their families and communities. Through this organization, Steve works alongside some of Ontario’s professional sports teams as a chaplain while Georgie ministers to the wives of the athletes. The couple, who met while at Liberty, also ministers to to the front office staff of the different organizatons that Athletes in Action serves.
“We’ve been in the Hamilton, Ontario, area and the division we are in is called the pro ministry,” Steve Kearns said. “We started chaplaincy for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts (of the CFL) and we worked with both teams for 21 years. We were also able to get a chaplaincy started with the Toronto Raptors 24 years ago as well as Toronto’s MLS team (TFC).”
The Raptors made Canadian history last summer when they beat the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the NBA Finals for the organization’s first championship.
“It was a fun time,” Steve Kearns said. “They really are ‘Canada’s team’ because they are the only NBA team in Canada, just like the Blue Jays are the only MLB team in Canada. The Finals really were a crazy run and an exciting time.”
Steve said that sporting cancellations and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been frustrating because he and Georgie are unable to interact and minister to the athletes and their wives in person. But despite the disappointment of physical separation, the couple is continuing to encourage the players and their families via Zoom and other online platforms.
“Even during COVID-19, God has given us an amazing ministry,” Georgie Kearns said. “He really has allowed for us to reach so many people and families through the Blue Jays, the Raptors, the CFL, and the other sports that we help minister to. I believe the Lord used my time of being Miss Liberty as well as an RA at Liberty to prepare me for the ministry that Steve and I now have.”
Steve said that whenever he and Georgie make it back to Lynchburg, they are amazed at the progress of Flames Football since their time at Liberty.
When Kearns played, the Flames were in the NAIA. In 2019, Liberty became a full-fledged FBS member — the highest level of collegiate football — and won the Cure Bowl in their first season of bowl eligibility. Flames fans were able to watch the historic season from the newly renovated 25,000-seat Williams Stadium.
“They’ve come so far since I played football there,” Kearns said. “It’s amazing to follow the rise of Flames Football throughout the years. The progress of the program has been phenomenal from the days of practicing on Treasure Island.”
Kearns’ advice to current Flames Football players preparing to launch into the life of professional football, such as the 2020 Washington Redskins fourth-round draft pick Antonio Gandy-Golden, is simple, yet impactful.
“Stay true to yourself and your beliefs,” Kearns said. “Then go and do the best that you can, knowing that your worth and identity have nothing to do with what the outcome is.”
> Watch a 2015 interview with Kearns on Liberty’s Game ON TV show.
