Former NFL pro Joe Ehrmann, now an ordained minister, will speak at Catawba College’s sixth annual Lilly Colloquium on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Ehrmann, who played professional football for 13 years and was selected as the Colts Man of the Year, followed his pro career by going to Dallas Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary before being ordained in 1985.
Ehrmann, an All-American football player and lettered lacrosse player at Syracuse University, has spent more than 25 years as an educator, motivator, professional speaker and coach. He will focus his remarks on understanding what is of value and how that speaks to the way individuals live their lives and translates into service vocations.
Two of Ehrmann’s on-campus presentations are free and open to the public, one at 11 a.m. in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel, and another at 7:30 p.m. in Hedrick Little Theatre in the Robertson College-Community Center. In between, he will attend a luncheon for faculty, staff and invited students, and later meet with coaches and athletes before the evening presentation.
Ehrmann is an inspirational speaker and seminar leader who works with organizations to promote growth, teamwork, effectiveness and individual responsibility. Since 1995, he also has been the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Gilman School in Baltimore, Md.
For his work as a coach and his ability to transform the culture of sports by reframing and redefining the social responsibility of coaches, parents and players, he was featured in Parade magazine in 2004 as “The most important coach in America.” He is the subject of Jeffrey Marx’s book, “Season of Life,” which won the Pulitzer Prize and was a New York Times bestseller.
He and wife Paula, a psychotherapist, co-founded Building Men and Women for Others (BMWO), an organization that holistically addresses issues of masculinity and femininity. BMWO also seeks to address issues of violence and child advocacy. The Ehrmanns are co-founders of The Door, an inner city, community-based ministry that deals with poverty, systematic racism and social justice. Joe Ehrmann is the co-founder of Baltimore’s Ronald McDonald House.
Catawba’s Lilly Center for Vocation and Values is directed by Dr. Kenneth W. Clapp, senior vice president and chaplain. This year’s Lilly Colloquium is sponsored by Catawba College’s Lilly Center for Vocation and Values and Catawba’s Development Office.
For more details on Joe Ehrmann’s appearance, contact Clapp or his assistant, Lucretia Hughes, at 704-637-4446. Reservations are not required.