Ex-NFL player delivers powerful MLK message

Sam Acho visited Des Moines on a stage once used by King

Sam Acho walked onto a stage that Martin Luther King Jr. graced 64 years ago to share a powerful, yet personal, story with Iowans.

Acho, a former NFL linebacker, appeared in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony as a keynote speaker. He shared his vision at Lutheran Church of Hope+Elim entitled “The Beloved Community.”

It was an intentional nod to MLK’s speech in the same building, on the same stage at then-University Christian Church at 2500 University Avenue in Des Moines on Nov. 12, 1959.

Former NFL player Sam Acho spoke at an MLK celebration at Lutheran Church of Hope+Elim Monday, January 16. (Photo by John Naughton.)

Before a diverse crowd of hundreds, including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Acho delivered a call to action and a message of faith.

“What if God is asking you to show up?” Acho challenged the crowd.

Acho, who played with Arizona and the Chicago Bears, told of his formation of a community project in a blighted neighborhood in Chicago in 2020. He marshaled a group of professional athletes from the Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks and other teams to raise $500,000 to replace a former liquor store with a grocery store run by local teenagers offering healthy foods — an oasis in an urban food desert.

“It felt like heaven on earth,” said Acho, now an ESPN analyst.