From the Times:

Then one day, for no reason in particular, Tyree went to the Bethel Church of Love and Praise in Bloomfield, N.J. He sat in the back, about a month after the arrest.

A woman started singing before the congregation, her voice, loud and passionate, filling the room. As Tyree listened, he felt her joy and realized he had none. He lowered his head into his hands and started crying, first sniffles, then sobs lasting 25 minutes.

“I’m a successful player in the N.F.L., having what most people would desire for their lives,” Tyree said. “I’m at the pinnacle of sports. But I had no joy. I had no peace. My life was obviously in disarray.”

From the Post:

Butler decided that he’d never be in that position again. He read Bible verses his grandmother, Margaret Butler, had sent him. Butler said he was drawn mostly to 1 Corinthians 13:11, which reads, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

One small window, sandwiched between steel bars, lit his room. Butler could peer out and see a basketball court.

“God puts stuff in front of you for a reason,” he said. “That was my ticket out.” …

… Last August, a fourth member of Butler’s original group of friends, Antonio Strong, also was shot and killed.

“You see all that and you see people before they die, it’s a question you ask yourself, like ‘Why did God spare me like this, when I was out doing the same thing?’ I can’t stand going home and having to bury one of my friends. This gotta stop,” he said.

“I just try to live life, live it the right way, live every day like it’s your last. Seeing all the crazy stuff in the world, you’ve got to truly, truly take advantage of the time you’re given here.”

In September, Butler gave away about 700 coats to children at Gilmore Middle School in Racine after doing the same thing at a different school a year earlier. He also has given away bicycles and held a basketball camp. Such efforts led Racine Mayor Gary Becker to proclaim June 8 “Caron Butler Day.” Emotional during much of the ceremony, Butler finally broke down, openly weeping upon receiving a plaque from Becker.

Here’s a quote from Henniger on minorleaguebaseball.com: “I remember when I first came out of [the coma],” Henniger said. “I thanked God for being alive and I thanked Him for my accident. I don’t know where it’s taken me or why it happened, but I’m open to the growth spiritually. It’s interesting because there are so many people at the hospital who have the same attitude that I do. They learn about themselves and relationships. It’s fascinating what happens to people after near-death experiences.”

It would have been nice to see ESPN’s Crasnick give the topic of faith more than a single sentence. It is a minor flaw in an otherwise terrific story.