Broncos' Elam kicks off career as author

About two years ago, Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam decided to write a book. He didn’t want to do it on football stories that his brother encouraged him to write and always drew a chuckle when he told them at speaking engagements.

Instead, the Denver Broncos kicker’s first title was “Monday Night Jihad.” The title reflects the unusual topic inside.

The book is a fictional account of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists, first at the Mall of America and then at a Monday night football game. The protagonist is Riley Covington, a former Air Force Special Operations lieutenant who plays linebacker in the fictional Pro Football League for the Colorado Mustangs. Elam said former Air Force players Steve Russ, Chris Gizzi and Chad Hennings were the models for Covington’s character.

Elam kept the NFL and its team names out of the book. Aside from that concession, Elam said he wasn’t concerned about the reaction he might get about the book’s subject.

“I knew some people might get upset, but that’s OK,” said Elam, who has a book signing at Borders at Southgate in Colorado Springs at 2 p.m. Sunday and Jan. 18 at the Focus on the Family bookstore. “It’s fiction.”

Elam, a devout Christian, had traveled to the Middle East for missionary work a few times and was interested in different religions and current events. He decided to mesh some of his football stories with an examination of terrorism, Muslim faith and Christian faith. The main character, Covington, is a Christian who is put in situations that test his faith.

“The underlying point is not the football element, but the ultimate point of the book is to contrast faiths,” said Elam, who is working toward his master’s degree in global apologetics, a study of 12 major world religions, at Liberty University.

The idea was well received by a literary agent. However, Elam had never written anything substantial. He didn’t want to give control of the book to an author he didn’t know, fearing his message would be lost. He had talked about the book idea with Steve Yohn, the director of adult ministries at Fellowship Community Church in Centennial. Elam was on a fishing trip in Alaska when his father suggested Yohn co-write the book. Yohn, who had also never written a book, got a sudden call from Elam in Alaska.

Yohn agreed, and they would meet weekly at a coffee shop for a couple of hours to discuss the characters and plot.

“I’d kind of put it into one voice,” Yohn said.

He had been to the Middle East and had taught a series on Israel, Palestine and Arabs at his church.

Elam used his contacts to make the book as authentic as possible. He went to high school with a man who is a Secret Service agent. His brother is a lieutenant colonel in military intelligence for the Army. He also knew a former member of the Air Force Special Ops and people in the Denver police’s homicide division and the city’s bomb squad. He interviewed those sources, then let them see passages so they could vouch for their authenticity.

A sensitive subject for Elam was how he portrayed Muslims. He didn’t want to demonize them but attempted to explain why radical Muslims feel as they do about the United States and what might spur terrorist acts. He also wanted to contrast radical and moderate Muslim faiths in the book.

Elam sought out the help of some Muslim friends. He said talks about faith with Broncos safety Hamza Abdullah and offensive tackle Ryan Harris, who are both Muslim, also helped. He said he also ran some ideas by Abdullah.

“I asked Hamza, ‘Is this accurate and would you be OK with it?’” Elam said.

Between the firsthand knowledge of Yohn and Elam and their reliance on outside sources, Elam said he thinks the book came off as a credible account.

“I wanted it to be plausible,” Elam said.