A Christian organization for men which enjoyed a groundswell of popularity during the 1990s in the face of considerable criticism from women's groups, the Promise Keepers were founded on March 20, 1990, by then-University of Colorado head football coach Bill McCartney and Dr. Dave Wardell. While attending a Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet in Pueblo, McCartney and Wardell envisioned a gathering of some 50,000 men assembled for the purposes of training and instruction to become God-fearing men.