A Super Bowl Story: Dave Dalby's 3 Super Bowl Rings Take on a Deeper Meaning

Foreword

When I was a child, there was a reader titled, "Look and See, Dick and Jane." I thought it was a redundant title. Later, I learned the true definition of "look" and "see." Now I know that we can look at things in life without really discerning the deeper meaning of those words, events and episodes.

Here is an article that, hopefully, will help us to look at Oakland Raiders' Dave Dalby and to "see" what the impact of having three Super Bowl rings can mean to some of us in 2012.

The Article

Some NFL players are yearning to get one Super Bowl ring. This Sunday, Feb 5, 2012, millions of fans will peer at television screens to see who becomes victorious in the battle between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.

Dave Dalby and a few more Oakland Raiders and other players acquired three rings during their NFL careers. Those valuable rings are a symbol of victory in one of the most popular games in American football history.

When I toured the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio I saw so many versions of the NFL Super Bowl rings. They were mounted and exhibited in display cases and there were captions explaining the symbols on the ring and other historical facts.

Dalby, however, left more than a memory of his football achievements. His life story is powerful and it is a testimony that needs to be shared with millions of people.

First, Dalby was a player who replaced the great Jim Otto. Otto was a player who made his mark in NFL history, and Dalby, received the baton like a track star, and continued in his role as an offensive lineman.

Dalby also helped to make the Oakland Raiders a powerful team during its era in Los Angeles, California.

No doubt the memories of Dalby and other great players is what tempts fans to believe that the Oakland Raiders can flourish, again, amid the stars and glitter of Los Angeles. That issue is being argued in men caves around the United States.

David Merle Dalby was a center who was 6'3" and during his peak years he weighed 242 lbs. He was born Oct. 19, 1950 in Alexandria, Minnesota. He attended UCLA, and he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 1972 NFL Draft. Not only did Dalby earn three Super Bowl rings, he was also a one-time Pro Bowler.

There is no question about the presence of Dalby on the Oakland Raiders team during its years of glory. What is more intriguing is his experiences off the playing field, and how a young girl could be inspired to write him a long letter just a few days before he moved to another realm.

There was a special lady in Dalby’s life. The daughter of this special lady was moved to share her thoughts with Dalby. She mailed her letter. It never arrived. She mailed a second copy and it arrived, at an appointed time for a special purpose. The letter is dated Aug. 2, 2002, nearly 10 years ago.

Timing is important. In an email a few days ago, Pastor Armando Leon encouraged me to contact Sue, the very special lady in Dalby’s life. Sue shared some powerful events with me by telephone.

It was clear to me that Sue has a mission and she is directed by God. Sue faxed her daughter’s letter and it was so rich in content that I ended up being a few minutes late to class.

In Sue’s handwriting and at the bottom of page one of the letter it says,

“This letter was written ten days before Dave’s passing.”

There can be meaning attached to “10.”

The research says:

Completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything, is, therefore, the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete.

Tiffany wrote a complete and powerful appeal to Dalby. She directed him to an eternal Super Bowl victory.

Yes, Dalby had three rings and as I shared a few highlights of my conversation with Sue on Feb. 2, the technician who was administering a stress test to me said that each ring meant something for Dalby: one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit.

The technician got my attention.

I rushed home on Feb. 3, and started writing this tribute to Dalby, a man who did something on the night before his fatal car accident. After reading the letter written by a young girl, and after a deep conversation, David Dalby made a commitment to God. In just a few hours from that epiphany, Dalby’s car accident occurred and the tragedy facilitated a transition because his car hit a tree.

Somehow, the tree symbolizes more than the end of a life, but the beginning of a life made complete by his commitment to “true” excellence.

In 2012 a few days before a Super Bowl that so many in the Raider Nation believed the Oakland Raiders could have been in to commemorate their commitment to excellence, we find that the story of Dalby represents a commitment to true excellence. On this day and in the hearts of many fans in the Raider Nation, Dalby’s life transition was facilitated by a tree to move him into the realm of the Tree of Life.

Tiffany wrote from her heart and she said to Dalby in the letter written at a time that “the whole cycle was complete” in Dalby’s life, yet many did not realize it. Hindsight is what gives us a pure perception of the miraculous events preceding Dalby’s death.

Tiffany wrote:

“I don’t think you realize that there are thousands and thousands of people that would be touched with your life, as well as be completely saddened with your death….Have you ever had an urge to help people…you have an incredible chance to help not just one or two but thousands.”

Tiffany’s words described the impact the treasured life of Dave Dalby has had on so many people who hear the testimony of Tiffany’s mother.

Again, Dalby’s life is remembered and his message is passed on through Sue, Tiffany and others who listen.

Indeed, Dalby’s life is a lesson in restoration and redemption for by some miracle I, too, have listened and recorded a portion of the life of a great Oakland Raider who took part in three Super Bowls like the one we anticipate on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012.