During his playing days, Reggie White had a profound, physical impact on opposing offenses. White is No. 2 on the NFL's all-time sack list with 198 career sacks to go along with 1,048 career tackles, 33 forced fumbles, and a Super Bowl Ring. He was a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

On the field, White truly lived up to his nickname as the "Minister of Defense," and fans, especially in Philadelphia, still marvel to this day about his ability to wreak havoc and "prey" upon opposing quarterbacks and running backs.

His son, Jeremy White, likes to brag about the franchise-record 21 sacks that his father got in 12 games back in the strike-shortened season of 1987.

"Everybody likes to say the LT (Lawrence Taylor) was the best," Jeremy White said proudly of his father. "My dad is the only player to have 21 sacks in 12 games."

Off the field, White had a profound impact as a minister spiritually by touching the lives in the communities of Philadelphia and Green Bay with the same love and passion he had for attacking opposing offenses as a Hall of Fame defensive end. As an ordained Christian minister since the age of 17, he wanted to use football as a vehicle to reach people on a spiritual level.

"One of the things he used to talk about when I was growing up with him was that he always saw football as a vehicle to get more of a positive message to preach the gospel," Jeremy White said. "He saw football as the access point to be able to reach more people, to help as many people as he could, and to be a positive role model for people."

White's former Eagles teammate Cedrick Brown, pastor of the Commitment Church in Lindenwold, New Jersey, recalls how White inspired him and other teammates to attach Bible verses when they gave autographs to fans when the Birds' Training Camp was in West Chester.

"He used to always write John 3:16, and so, what we collectively committed to was if we give out our autograph, we'll also give a Bible verse," said Brown, who played cornerback for the Eagles in 1987. "And still to this day, when I go out and speak and share my testimony when I give out a ball or an autograph ... I still attach Romans 10:9. His legacy and impact are impacting me as a pastor 30 years later."

During his time in Philadelphia from 1985-92, White, along with several of his teammates and his wife Sara, brought his ministry of Christian love to North Philadelphia in the Richard Allen Projects, which was one of the poorest and most crime-ridden areas of the city.

Reggie White didn't do it from the pulpit by preaching to the young people, but by talking to them, playing pickup football with the kids, or singing with them. He would bring his teammates like recent Hall of Fame inductee Eric Allen into the community by simply spending time with them.

"So we would literally go out there on Saturdays and play football with the kids," Brown said of White's willingness to involve himself in the community. "And just spending time with the people, and he was so gracious with that. ... That was when Reggie was becoming bigger than life. And so, you had this guy playing with little kids, throwing footballs and passing out hot dogs and just being really generous and charitable."

Sara White said her husband was allowed to come into the public schools even though school officials knew he was talking to students about God, something that is often not allowed in public schools.

"He understood that it was his responsibility to take care of the community," Sara White said. "That's what we did, we took care of the community. One child at a time. ... Really, it was about talking to them about love and hope. Get yourself together and don't fall into traps. That was important."

When Reggie White signed as a free agent with the Packers in 1993, he remained committed to following his spiritual values by helping people regardless of race.

"I know at the end of the day that his foundational grounding was, 'How do I approach this like Jesus?' and 'How do I glorify God?' and that was about bringing people together," Jeremy White said.

Sara White said Reggie had a way of touching the lives of people on a personal level. One of those lives was his teammate and friend, safety Andre Waters. She said that Reggie tried talk to Waters about committing his life to Christ when they were both still playing for the Eagles.

At the time, Waters wasn't ready to hear what Reggie White was trying tell him. But over time, that changed dramatically.

"Before Andre died, he called Reggie and said, 'I didn't understand it when you were preaching at me, but I wanted you to know that I gave my life to the Lord. Not because you worried me, but because of how you acted, and I finally figured it out.' Reggie cried," Sara recalled.

Reggie White died in 2004 because of complications due to sleep apnea. But even after his death, he still managed to touch lives, according to his son, Jeremy. He said after Sara formed the Reggie White Sleep Foundation to bring awareness to the problem of sleep apnea, people told him stories of how his father's story saved people's lives.

"I can't tell you how many times people came up to me and told me how Dad saved their lives," Jeremy White said. "After my dad passed, people finally got checked and got what they needed, and now they are here. ... It was that awareness after his death that meant a lot."

Award-winning journalist Chris Murray has more than 40 years of experience in print and broadcast journalism. For the last 16 years he has been a regular freelance sportswriter with the Philadelphia Sunday Sun and is the host of the Chris Murray Report, a weekly sports radio talk-show on WURD Radio in Philadelphia. He is the author of the book, First Draft: A Chronicle of Race, Sports and Social Justice in the 21st Century.