“He had that rare ability where there wasn’t a single environment that you couldn’t immerse him in because he was highly intelligent, very educated, extremely smart, and he could get down with the most intellectual people, but he could also get down to street level because that’s where he came from,” Joyner said.
“He could get people to sit and listen. He had a way when he got up to speak. The guy could really captivate an audience. He was one of those guys that didn’t need notes. He could just get up and your eyes were on him because he gets your attention. He was very special in that way,” Quick added.
In his 40 years with Greater Exodus Baptist Church, Lusk accomplished so much that his playing career is almost a footnote in his life.
• Lusk founded the nonprofit organization People for People, whose guiding mission is “to break the vicious, generational cycle of poverty in the lives of economically challenged residents of Philadelphia by providing them with positive alternatives to drugs, crime, and welfare dependency.”
• He took over the Fredrick Douglass School in Chester, Pennsylvania, after it threatened to close in 2014, and it is now thriving under the leadership of Greater Exodus Baptist Church. In fact, it also houses the Grace Dental Clinic, which serves people in Chester who have no dental insurance.
• Lusk started a credit union in 2000 for people in North Philadelphia who did not have access to money.
• He embarked on missionary work in Africa.
• Lusk’s work has been cited by President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, who have both visited Greater Exodus Baptist Church, as a role model for developing the inner city.
During this time, he also maintained close ties with the Eagles and became the team chaplain after Ray Rhodes, the former Giants cornerback, became the head coach in 1995. Lusk was with the team in Minneapolis for the Super Bowl, and despite his declining health, oversaw the first chapel service before the preseason opener last month.
“He was an Eagle through and through,” Joyner said. “One of his greatest prized possessions with the Super Bowl ring. He wore it with a lot of pride. He wanted the best for the Eagles at all times. He loved the Philadelphia Eagles. He loved the City of Philadelphia. He loved what he was doing and he did it until there was no more breath left. He left his shell empty. He poured himself out to this city, to that organization, to humanity.”
Just a few months ago, Joyner was visiting Lusk…
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