[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 26, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E545-E546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO COACH KEN SPARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2017

  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, many Tennesseans care about the 
Three ``F's'' in life: Faith, Family, and Football.
  One outstanding Tennessean in particular, Coach Ken Sparks, 
incorporated his love for all three of these into his amazing life.

[[Page E546]]

  Ken Sparks devoted his life to his alma mater, Carson Newman 
University, as an inspirational coach for almost 40 years.
  While his record setting list of wins and accomplishments with his 
football teams might give someone else a big ego, Coach Sparks always 
kept the focus on someone else.
  I had the honor of celebrating his impact on my district, thousands 
of student athletes, and other coaches just a few months ago at his 
retirement ceremony.
  Coach Sparks spoke of success, wins, and achievements, but he did it 
while giving all the credit to the Lord. He spoke of his gratefulness 
to God through his amazing life experiences.
  The life that Ken lived was one that was devoted to building up the 
success of others while remaining humble through each level of success 
he achieved himself. He had an amazing ability to connect with players 
in a way that gave them purpose on and off the field.
  The love he had for his faith, family, and football were given deeper 
meaning with the devotion he had to his wife Carol, and their four 
children and 14 grandchildren.
  Even though he was diagnosed with cancer five years ago, he continued 
to work hard to bring glory to God.
  Although Tennesseans are greatly saddened by his loss, we should 
reflect on his life and the legacy he left behind.
  I encourage all my Colleagues and others to celebrate the amazing 
life of Coach Sparks.
  I would also like to call attention to the article that appeared in 
the Knoxville News Sentinel on March 31, 2017, entitled ``Ken Sparks, A 
Life Well Lived''.


        news sentinel editorial board, published march 31, 2017

       A wave of sadness washed over East Tennessee on Wednesday 
     with the word that Carson-Newman University football icon Ken 
     Sparks had succumbed to cancer.
       Carson-Newman and Sparks were inseparable, venerable 
     institutions.
       He had dedicated nearly four decades to shaping young men's 
     lives who played football for the university. That was more 
     important to him than any of the championships, the trophies, 
     the accolades, the numbers.
       ``I'm grateful to be part of a profession where you can 
     teach about life while you're teaching blocking and 
     tackling,'' Sparks said in 2010 when he was honored with the 
     Robert R. Neyland Trophy. ``The Lord has blessed me.
       ``I hope that through things like this I can honor the Lord 
     and that it has more meaning than what's on the scoreboard at 
     the end of the field.''
       Sparks, 73, a Knoxville native, retired after the 2016 
     season after courageously battling through his cancer 
     diagnosis in 2012.
       Polite, warm, always smiling, Sparks coached 37 seasons, 
     recorded 338 wins, made 25 playoff trips, won 21 South 
     Atlantic Conference titles and 5 national titles for the 
     university where he graduated in 1967. He coached in the 
     National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the 
     National Collegiate Athletics Association Division II as well 
     as at several high schools before returning to Carson-Newman 
     in 1980.
       In addition to the Neyland Trophy, Sparks has been honored 
     with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Lifetime 
     Achievement Award. Sparks was elected president of the 
     American Football Coaches Association in 2007. In 2002 he 
     received the All-American Football Foundation's Johnny Vaught 
     Lifetime Achievement Award.
       Sparks earned NAIA coach of the year honors in 1984 and was 
     voted SAC coach of the year 12 times.
       A forgiving man, he gave troubled players who had lost 
     their way at other institutions a second chance.
       ``You're going to have influence, whether you like it or 
     not,'' Sparks said last November when he retired. ``Everyone 
     of us is an example of something. We can talk all we want to, 
     but our walk is what tells people who we are.
       ``The Lord has put us in a position where we've been able 
     to have an audience of players and people that want to know 
     the message. That's what I hope I've been true to, the Lord's 
     message.''
       When Sparks announced his retirement, Carson-Newman 
     athletics director Allen Morgan called it a sad day.
       ``It's a day we honor Ken and the legacy he is leaving for 
     how he has touched young men's lives in a way far greater 
     than wins on a football field.
       ``He has molded boys to become Christian young men, 
     husbands and community leaders where they too can give back. 
     So today, it's Ken Sparks' day. The entire Carson-Newman 
     community gives thanks for what he has done not only for 
     Carson-Newman but for the greater good of mankind.''

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