Super Bowl champ joins Bethel retreat

The 29 diamonds off his large Super Bowl XXVI ring sparkled as Fred Stokes told how he was able to play in the biggest football game of his life as a defensive end with the Washington Redskins, and what led him to spending four days with Bethel Fellowship Church members on a recent retreat in South Dakota.
Bethel Fellowship members have embarked on a retreat since the late 1960s. Current pastor Tom Nomeland has been involved with the retreat nearly every year since 1974.
Pastor Nomeland volunteered to give a few sermons to people from Jamaica via Zoom through the Jamaican Theological Seminary. One of the other pastors who is also involved with the Jamaican Seminary, and is also a friend of Nomeland, suggested that Chris Vennetti, who lives in Orlando, FL, would be a good person to invite on the retreat.
Vennetti agreed to embark on the retreat and asked Nomeland if he could bring someone along with him. The man happened to be Stokes.
“Fred is an associate pastor of the church I belong to. Greenway Church in Orlando, Vennetti explained from the Nomeland home upon returning from the retreat. “I didn’t ask him to come to the retreat, I asked him to pray about it.”
Stokes then interjected, saying “I wasn’t really interested when he first told me about it, but he asked me to pray about it, and there’s a big difference between inviting someone and asking them to pray about it. I did pray about it and that’s why I’m here now.”
The purpose of the annual retreat is simple.
“It’s a chance to get away from the grind of life,” said Pastor Nomeland. “We have fun and it was refreshing to go deeper with our faith and give thanks to God.”
Vennetti spoke to the group of 65 people at Lake Poinsett near Watertown in the mornings, and Stokes spoke in the evenings, each sharing their thoughts on their commitment to God. Nomeland introduced each of the speakers and offered a short devotional to those in attendance.
Stokes, 59, was born in Georgia and was a prep standout in basketball and track. It wasn’t until his senior year in high school that he decided to play football and made an immediate impact. He was offered a full scholarship to play for Georgia Southern.
“Georgia Southern School of Champions,” Stokes pointed out with a big smile. “Make sure you write it that way.”
Despite being a newly-formed college, Georgia Southern won NCAA Division 1-AA national championships in 1985 and 1986. Stokes was one of two players on his team voted First-Team All-America after his senior season as an offensive tackle.
Stokes was drafted in the 12th round of the 1987 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams and spent 10 years in the NFL with the Rams, Redskins and the New Orleans Saints.
In the 1992 Super Bowl played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24. Stokes recorded 2½ sacks, and had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in that game.
“Basketball was my first love. I wanted to play in the NBA to get my mother out of an impoverished situation,” said Stokes. “I was too small to play inside like I did in high school, though. God had a different plan for me and wanted me to play in the NFL.”“Every man needs another man he can bare his soul to,” Stokes explained about LINT Brother. “It’s turning the pockets of his life inside out and exposing the LINT that try to keep him in bondage. Every man needs a LINT Brother with whom he can get down to the LINT with.”
Vennetti, who has written several religious books, also has a compelling story in which his life took an unexpected turn.
Vennetti originally was hoping to land his “dream job” with ESPN in the late 90s. While traveling along the highway en route to the interview with ESPN, he felt disconnected and asked God to show him a sign on what he should do. Suddenly, for reasons unbeknownst to him, Vennetti turned off the highway and ended up “in the middle of nowhere” in Virginia.
“I turned down a gravel road and there was a church building around a corner,” he said. “I stopped and knocked on the door at the church to see if they had any work for me to do, but no one answered.”
He proceeded down the highway and came upon a sign that read “You’re now entering the mission field” and he slammed on the brakes of his vehicle and pulled off to the side of the road.
“It gave me goose bumps. I knew God was trying to tell me something, but I had no idea what. It was then that I knew God was real in a way I’d never known.”
Vennetti eventually called ESPN and told them that he was no longer interested in the job there.
For the past 20 years, Vennetti has been working with various church groups to launch numerous religious organizations and initiatives, as well as being an author and public speaker.
“We were so fortunate to have these men with us on our retreat,” said Pastor Nomeland. “I think we all learned something about faith and friendship from each of them and we were able to go deeper with our commitment and life with Christ.”Currently, Stokes owns his own business called Fred Stokes Foods, which specializes in signature sausage and bacon. He also is the founder/director of LINT (Life I Never Tell) Brother in which he travels across the country giving motivational talks.