b"OBITUARIESMicheal Spivey,March 10, 1954June 26, 2023Who Was Micheal Spivey?After watching Mike and meeting the othersides, said Randy.It was shaping up to be a players,Iwantedtowork-outandbuild-upbad situation, he added.mymuscles,butIhadnowheretogo.WeAnd May He Rest in Peace! couldntaffordtojointheBoulderAthleticOvertheyearsRandyhadgarneredalocal Club (BAC) because it was too expensive, andreputation in the Boulder area as a young man the Elks Club didnt allow blacks in as cus- of good faith and honest standing.Remembering By Sheila Smith & Michael Papacek tomers either. what Mike Spivey had taught him and with the help of the Lord, Randy went to CU and spoke M ichealSpiveywasborninTexasin1954.I knew Steve Griffin and Dale Crancy, whowith then head football coach, Bill McCartney, HegrewupinHouston.Butratherthanworked out at the BAC.These guys under- regardingthenegativenewsandracialunrest getting stuck in the city, he had a dream to playstood my situation and helped me gain accessgoing on in the city.footballandonedaytoplayprofootball.Notto work out there once I turned 12 years old. Randy joined with Coach McCartney to orga-only did he achieve his dream, but in doing soHowever, Mike knew he could help us better ifnize and sponsor a potluck banquet with the CU he made a profound impression on many otherwe were around the football team.When Mikefootballplayersinordertoshowrespect,love young black teenagers he met along his way.and Cullen were working-out he was able toand unityand demonstrate how the black com-OnJune26,2023,attheyoungageof69,get us permission to use the CU work-out andmunity supported CU. The main guest speaker PastorMichealSpiveypassedaway.Heleftweight equipment in the locker room.at the event was, Micheal Spivey.behindamodest,butstrongimpactonsome Mike, was an out-of-towner that helped usMicheal professed his belief in God and about youngblackmeninBoulder,Colorado,whereto feel welcome in our hometown even whenfollowing the teachings of the Lord in order to 'Spivey'attendedtheUniversityofColoradoinother local citizens and Boulder High Schoolhelp all people overcome the sins of racism and the 1970s. officialsdidnotunderstandwhatweweresocial injustices. His speech began the ground-MichealSpiveyachievedhisdreamtoplaydealing with, it no longer meant anything towork for helping CU, the student athletes and football.And not just only for the CU Buffaloes.us. We had our black superman. the CU Community to build better race relations. Spivey was a good defensive back at CU and fromMike Spivey helped us boys begin to figureSoon after this event and hearing Mikes speech, there he continued on to play in the NFL. who we were and what we needed to do toCoachMcCartneyaskedandthenappointed Hisprofootballcareerbeganasadefensivesucceed.We felt proud to be black. He madeMike to become the football team chaplain.back playing for the Chicago Bears from 1977- us feel goodlike black we should!And get- Itwasthisunificationthroughtheloveof 79. From Chicago, Spivey played for the OaklandtinganeducationwasthebestwaytodoGodandbringingpeopletogetherthatayear Raiders in 1980.He played for the New Orleansthat latersparkedthePromiseKeepersmovement, Saintsfrom1980-81andthenfinallyfortheSpivey left CU to play for the Chicago Bears.anEvangelicalChristianorganizationformen, Atlanta Falcons in 1982. During his NFL off-seasons, Mike returned to thefoundedbyCoachBillMcCartneyin1990in WhentherecentnewsaboutthepassingCU campus to finish up his degree.He achievedBoulder, Colorado.ofMichealSpiveyfilteredthroughthelocalone half of his goal by playing pro-football andThePromiseKeepersbecameanationally Colorado communities, some of the people whonow he was completing the other half.Later onrecognized non-profit group that promoted tra-wereblessedtohaveknownSpiveybeforehein his journey, The Lord led Micheal to become aditional marriage and family values, encouraged was an NFL player recalled the impact he had onpastor where he could use his God-given talentchastityandmaritalfidelity,deemedtheman them as black teenagers attending high schoolto guide, comfort and help his fellow man. astheheadoftheirhouseholdsandattracted andlivinginpredominantlywhitepopulatedWhile Mike was completing his degree Randynationalacclaimwhentheyallgatheredat Boulder, Colorado during the 1970s. was also a student at CU during the same time.the National Mall in Washington, DC in 1997. Spivey attended college at CU in Boulder andAnd, as if orchestrated by the Lord, both he andDespite criticism of its doctrinal beliefs, much of was on the football team. Getting an educationMike were enrolled in the same English class. it through the media, the Promise Keepers still and playing football, he knew, were his ticket toMike and Randy became fast and good friendsattracted more than 700,000 male followers and succeed. during those days at CU.Randy learned mucheven more supporters.Oneyoungteenagerwhowasfortunatetofrom the young professional football player whoMichealSpiveyenactedanimportantrolein haveknownSpiveybackthen,wasRandyhad be-friended him and his buddies some yearsthe lives of so many young boys and girls, many McCowan,currentpublisheroftheBodyofbefore. And then years after their class together,of who have gone on to be successful husbands Christ Newspaper. RandyhadanopportunitytousewhatMikeandwives,fathersandmothers,sonsand Spivey taught him. daughters.Micheal Spivey left behind a legacy of TherewassomuchgoingonatthattimeThe racial tension in Boulder seemingly contin- hope, pride and understanding instilled in many when we met Mike.The civil rights movementued to build year after year and threatened to getof the fortunate people that came to know him. from the 60s had gained momentum in the 70s.out of control.Boulder citizens were being chal- Those folks will fondly remember Pastor Micheal AsblackteenagerslivinginBoulder,weoftenlenged to understand just how deep some of theSpivey, not just for his successful football career, facedsituationsofracialtensionandharass- racial divides and prejudices were that existed inbutforhavingabighearttohelphisfellow ment. Sometimes people did not know what totheir community. brothers and sisters no matter who they were.do, how to do it or who could fix it?It was toughBy 1988, according to Randy, Boulder police times on us black kids. were using the player lineups in the CU FootballServices will be held on July 22, 11am @In one such instance, Randy was a freshmangame day programs as a suspect guide for some at Boulder High School: criminalactivitiesgoingoninBoulder.ThereParkerEvangelicalPresbyterianChurch,I remember a group of white senior boyswasalotofmistrustandsuspiciononboth9030 Miller Rd.came up to me and said they wanted to do a senior prank. They told me that they wanted me to be part of it.They were going to dress up as the Klu Klux Klan and then chase me around the lunchroom and in and out of dif-ferent classrooms with a noose.A small group of us black students at the schoolwerealreadyfeelinguncomfortably bad because of the racism going on. I thought ifIagreedtodotheprankwiththesenior white boys, that maybe the local media would get wind of it, which might then spotlight the highschoolsracialtroublesandBoulders racism.While struggling about what to do in regards to the prank, Randy and his school friends, Don, Dane and Wilford went to watch a CU football practice.ItwasthereattheFolsompractice fields, they met Mike. He invited the boys into the football locker room after the team finished practice that day.Mike Spivey introduced our group to Cullen Bryant and then other black CU players who embraced us. BODY OF CHRIST NEWS JULY 2023 follow us onfacebook 23"