The Lincoln University football team has been through some emotional times off the field in recent years.
Team Chaplain David Phelps, or "Pastor Dave," has been there alongside them.
Although facing heart surgery coming up, he was still out on the field with the team a couple times a week, wandering the field from the defensive team to offensive team, visiting with players as they took a water break or coaches while drills were running.
Even before he walks onto the grass practice field, Phelps is shaking hands with or warmly greeting a dozen spectators or track team members warming up under a nearby shade tree.
Everyone gets a handshake, if not a pat on the back or light chest bump. He might sport a white beard and be a little shorter than the average athlete on the field, but Phelps obviously is welcome.
He wanders back and forth like head football coach Mike Jones, but for very different reasons. While Jones is pushing their skills and demanding performance, Phelps is there to encourage them personally and invite them to Tuesday night Bible study.
Before each Saturday game or bus departure, Phelps is there to provide inspiration and prayer. At the end of most practices, he does the same.
After a recent practice, nearly 100 players gathered in a huddle surrounding Phelps. There, they prayed for his surgery and recovery, as he has done for them so many times.
In just a couple of years, the football team has lost two players to shootings and two in auto accidents. Hundreds attended each memorial service, led by fellow pastor Jon Nelson of Soma Community Church.
"I had been praying hard to bring some good out of that," Nelson said.
After one incident, the entire football team attended church together on a Sunday morning, where Phelps was leading worship at the time. That day, he simply showed Billy Graham's 30-minute "Defining Moments" DVD, and 31 players followed with decisions of faith.
The next year, the team attended Sunday services together again, and after Phelps' devotional, another 15 made professions of faith.
As Baptist campus pastor with the Concord Baptist Association, that is part of his mission. Once students on the Lincoln campus, and specifically the football field, find their faith, Phelps continues to be there to build relationships and help them on a personal level.
He recently has adopted the track team, too, praying on their buses before meets and coming out to practices.
Through the association, he gets help from several congregations to support the campus and football team. He's hoping to get the same response for the track team.
Football player Kadesh Reaves said he appreciates the encouraging words and prayers. Phelps has taught him about making right decisions and pushing through doubt, Reaves said.
"Pastor Dave tries wholeheartedly to spread the word," Reaves said. "While connecting with young men on the football team, you can see his relentless efforts, (that) football and faith go hand in hand because believing comes first, then work is required."