Ken Hutcherson

In the video, Hutcherson talked about his experiences with racism growing up in the Deep South in the 1950s and 60s, and revealed that he grew to hate white people.

The hatred, however, left him feeling empty and that's when he "ran into Jesus Christ."

Hutcherson and Rush Limbaugh were close friends, and the two spent a good amount of time together.

Publicly, Hutcherson would often call in to The Rush Limbaugh Show around NFL playoff and Super Bowl time.

Kenneth Lee Hutcherson (July 14, 1952 – December 18, 2013) was an American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and senior pastor at Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, where he had been since 1985.

His nickname from his NFL days was "the Hutch".

Hutcherson attended Anniston High School.

Hutcherson strongly objected to suggestions that opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation bore a resemblance to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

He played linebacker for Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama) from 1970 to 1973.

He was a starting outside linebacker for the Tigers' 1971 NAIA National Championship team, and was an All-American both his junior and senior seasons.

He was the NAIA National Player of the Week in 1972 when he made 21 tackles against Southern State.

Hutcherson was named GSC Defensive Player of the Year in 1972, and was an All-GSC and All-Alabama Small College selection.

In 1973, he led his team with 86 tackles.

Hutcherson was selected in the fourth round (97th overall) of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, after dropping because he was seen as an undersized player.

He tore cartilage in his knee during rookie orientation practices in the spring.

He overcame the surgery to report on time to training camp.

He was a backup outside linebacker and a standout on special teams.

On September 9, 1975, he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for a seventh round draft choice (#186-Greg Schaum).

He was released by the Chargers after being hampered with a leg injury during the season and was claimed by the Green Bay Packers, who placed him immediately on the injured reserve list.

The Seattle Seahawks selected him from the Packers roster in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft.

On September 7, 1976, he was placed on the injured reserve list with torn knee ligaments.

The next year, he couldn't pass the Seahawks physical exam and left the team.

After ending his football career, Hutcherson conducted theological studies at Cascade Bible College in Bellevue, Washington in 1979.

After finishing his studies, he served eight years as director of high school ministries at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue.

In 1984, he started the multicultural Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, along with Mark Webster and Dwight Englund.

In 1985, he was inducted into the West Alabama Tigers Athletics Hall of Fame.

Hutcherson accepted the position of senior pastor in 1985 and was ordained in 1986.

Regarding the modern day Christian church, Hutcherson believed "the greatest need today in the church - which does not seem to be important in the average church - is the training of people in evangelism, discipleship and the responsibility they have for the church and responsibility they have for God."

On March 2, 2006, Hutcherson and King County Executive Ron Sims, himself a Baptist minister and a supporter of gay marriage, met at Seattle Town Hall to debate publicly the question "Is the gay rights movement the new civil rights movement?"

In early 2010, Hutcherson shot a video for the I Am Second organization, in which he shared his testimony.

He also officiated at Limbaugh's fourth wedding in June 2010.

Often a sparring partner of Hutcherson's, gay activist and The Stranger reporter Eli Sanders wrote a blog post one day after Hutcherson's death, entitled: "Ken Hutcherson's Last Goodbye (To Me)". In the post, Sanders revealed that Hutcherson had sent him a New Testament Bible in the mail in April 2011 and had embossed his name on the front.

Inside, Hutcherson wrote: "Eli, now you can know what we are talking about! - Dr. Ken Hutcherson, Rom. 12:1-2".

In the post, Sanders wrote, "I will miss him."

Hutcherson also told KVI host John Carlson in July 2012, "As a Christian, my perspective about living and dying is totally different from most. I believe in Christ, that he is sovereign; God is in control. And I believe the Bible, which tells me in Romans 8:28-30, there's nothing that comes to me that isn't for my best. There's nothing that can touch me that is not for my best. Everything that makes me more like Christ that comes into my life is for my best."

On his show of December 19, 2013, one day after Hutcherson's death, Limbaugh reflected on what Hutcherson meant to him and on the impact his death would have on others: "He was a man, folks. There was no complaining. There was no bleeding on people. There was none of that. He didn't want his relationship with anybody to be defined, even in what turned out to be the latter months of his life, by his illness. He was a devout Christian. He was a devout practicing Christian. And, as such, I don't think that he feared death because of that. But he's gone now, and it's a great, great loss for his congregation and his family because he's a unique individual. Nobody can be replaced when they're gone, but he's created an especially huge void for a lot of people because he was a counselor to people in trouble, no matter what the problem was."

Hutcherson also made frequent appearances on Glenn Beck's programs.

On December 17, 2013, Beck posted a 10-minute video on his website, in which he talked at length about his relationship with Hutcherson.

Beck tweeted the same day: "I just spoke to Hutch tonight. He is dying. He promised me that he will wait until I can get there Friday. Pray for his sweet wife and children." Hutcherson would die the next day.

Hutcherson passed away on December 18, 2013.