During a weekend when records were broken and playoff spots were secured, the lead NFL story was the passing of Reggie White. A defensive end that changed the game of football, White will always be remembered for how he tore up the NFC East during his days as a member of the Eagles, and for hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy when he was a member of the Packers.

I wish I could tell you what a great human being White was, but I can’t — I didn’t know the man. What I can say about him is that he had a tremendous amount of faith and courage. He chose a path few others in sports were willing to take.

In 1975, basketball’s most dominant player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, begged to get out of the state of Wisconsin. He won a championship for the Bucks, but longed for warmer weather and more diversity. The Bucks reluctantly traded their franchise player to the Los Angeles Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters. The Bucks haven’t been back to the NBA Finals since.

A decade later, the Brewers had a promising shortstop named Gary Sheffield who hated playing baseball in Milwaukee. It was even rumored that Sheffield booted balls on purpose to get shipped out of town. In 1992, the Brewers dealt him to San Diego, where that very season he contended for the triple crown.

For many years few athletes wanted to play in Wisconsin. The ones who did usually had no better place to go. So it was a surprise when, during the 1993 offseason, Reggie White chose Green Bay over virtually every other NFL city. Sports Illustrated wrote an article on White’s free agent journey, and didn’t make mention of the Packers as a team with a realistic shot of landing the 300-pound defensive lineman. But White liked what he saw in Head Coach Mike Holmgren and General Manager Ron Wolf. He liked what he saw in young Brett Favre, who had guided the Packers to a 9-7 record the year before. White didn’t seem to mind the bitter cold weather, or the Packers’ 20-year history of losing. He believed in the future, and because he did Green Bay was able to realize Holmgren and Wolf’s dreams of bringing a title back to Title Town.

Without White, it’s doubtful free agents Sean Jones, Keith Jackson, Eugene Robinson, and Andre Rison, among others, would have signed with the Packers during their rise to Super Bowl-status. Without White, it’s doubtful those players would have even scheduled a free agent visit.

White was a big fish that wasn’t afraid to test out the small pond of Green Bay. It’s easy for free agents to go to New York or Los Angeles, because that is where the attention and endorsement deals are. White wanted a championship. Because of him, Green Bay got one.

I believe all of the stories football personalities have shared about White the past few days; how he was a better person than he was a football player, how he put the needs of others first and gave more than he received. What I know about him is that he had amazing faith — both in God and in the Green Bay Packers.

One popular story about White’s courting was that Holmgren once left him a voice mail that said, “Reggie, this is God calling. Go to Green Bay.” As it turned out, going to Green Bay was a wonderful thing for White and for the wonderful people of Wisconsin, who, for far too long, had seen their best athletes leave the state. Maybe the call White received wasn’t from Holmgren after all. Maybe God really was on the other end of the line, helping White to find where he belonged.

Regardless of who was calling, as a Wisconsin citizen I would like to say, ‘thanks for listening Reggie!’

Mike Beacom works out of his home as a pro & college football writer. His articles have appeared in more than a dozen magazines, and he is a regular guest on several sports talk radio shows.