Using His Platform for a Greater Purpose
After Wally became a Christian, his football career took on a different significance. The recognition he had gained as a Minnesota Viking gave him a platform, and he became determined to use it to tell people what God had done in his life.
For FCA, that willingness became an incredible gift.
"He was probably our most requested speaker because of the power of his testimony," Randy said.
Randy joined FCA staff in Minnesota in 1981 and would spend the following decades serving in nearly every area of the ministry. During those early years, he occasionally traveled with Wally as he spoke on behalf of FCA. Wally went to churches, FCA huddles and rallies, sports camps, college retreats, coach’s events, conferences, and communities throughout the upper Midwest.
Wherever he went, people wanted to hear from the former Viking. But Wally wasn't interested in simply entertaining an audience with football stories.
Community and civic organizations would sometimes contact Minnesota FCA because they knew the ministry had relationships with professional athletes. Wally was especially sought after, but there was one important condition that came with inviting him.
"Wally only gave one message: his testimony. And then he'd share the Gospel," Randy said.
Sometimes organizations would ask whether Wally could speak about hard work, having a positive attitude or being a good teammate instead. Randy remembers the answer being clear. Wally wasn't willing to separate his football story from the story of what Jesus had done in his life. "He was committed and focused on sharing the story of how God had transformed his life and invited people to consider where they stood with God," Randy said.
Paving the Way Across Minnesota
Wally's willingness to share his story came during an important period in Minnesota FCA's history. There were far fewer FCA staff spread across the state in the 1980s and 1990s, which made establishing ministry in new communities challenging.
Wally could help open a door.
FCA would bring him to communities like Duluth, Bemidji, Marshall, or Waseca and invite students from surrounding Huddles to hear him speak. Other times, an event featuring a well-known Minnesota Viking would draw coaches, pastors, parents and community leaders who knew little about FCA.
Randy learned to see those events as more than speaking engagements. Randy would pray that after Wally shared his testimony and the Gospel, someone would approach him and say something along the lines of, "We need to get our young people engaged spiritually."
That gave Randy and other FCA staff a relationship to follow up on. They could begin conversations with local coaches, pastors and leaders, explaining FCA's ministry and looking for people who might have a heart for the mission of FCA.
"Wally really paved the way for us in a lot of communities," Randy said. "He contributed a lot to the growth of FCA ministry in Minnesota."
Current Minnesota FCA State Director Tom Ness remembers experiencing that influence before he ever served on FCA staff. While Tom was serving with ROCK Youth Ministries in Glencoe, he invited Wally to come and share with the community at a banquet to raise money and create ministry awareness. The opportunity to hear a Minnesota Vikings player drew people from different churches and different walks of life and gave their ministry credibility with the church community.
That was the unique opportunity Wally carried with him. His football career could get people in the room, but once they were there, he wanted them to hear about Jesus. Through that faithfulness, Wally helped introduce countless people and communities to FCA.
A Legacy Bigger Than Football
When Randy looks back over more than four decades of FCA ministry in Minnesota, Wally stands alongside fellow Vikings Jeff Siemon and John Campbell as three professional athletes who became closely identified with FCA and helped advance the ministry during an important era.
"They're all uniquely different for sure," Randy said, "but all played a very similar type of role."
John Campbell and Jeff Siemon have already been inducted into the Minnesota FCA Hall of Faith. Now, Wally joins them.
For Wally, the connection to FCA was deeply personal. The Vikings chapel where he first began listening to the message of Jesus was loosely connected to FCA at the time. After coming to Christ, FCA became a natural avenue through which he could take his testimony to others.
The player his teammates once considered least likely to become a Christian became one of Minnesota FCA's most requested speakers. The man who once mocked FCA became someone who helped introduce FCA to communities across the state. And the platform he had earned through football became a platform he willingly used to tell people about Jesus.
Randy saw that transformation and its impact firsthand.
"He had just such a powerful witness and was just so uncompromising in wanting to share his story," he said. Decades later, the communities Wally helped FCA enter, the people who heard his testimony and the ministry he helped establish are part of a legacy that extends far beyond anything recorded in a football record book.
That is the legacy Minnesota FCA celebrates as Wally Hilgenberg is inducted into the Hall of Faith.
