What’s Up With So Many NFL Players Talking About Jesus? (And Why It Matters to Us) – Part 3

My first blog about the Super Bowl only highlighted the Jesus followers on the Seattle Seahawks. I might’ve shown a little bias for my former team and excitement at their epic season and win. So let’s balance things out.

Quarterback Drake Maye and his Patriot teammates, who were on the losing side of the field that day, showed that faith is not a ticket to worldly victories and easy circumstances. Drake said, “Being able to shine a light on others and get them to follow Jesus Christ is what I’m here for.” Patriots’ tight end Hunter Henry called his faith in Jesus “my foundation…my rock that keeps me steady,” and safety Craig Woodson said he “wouldn’t be anywhere without God.”

It’s so vital to live and share our testimony and gratitude to God in any circumstance. Trusting Jesus doesn’t mean we’ll always win and we’ll never face troubles and suffering (with most of it much more emotionally difficult and relationally significant than losing a championship football game).

Everyone in life—believers, those yet to believe, and those outwardly antagonistic to God—all suffer through injuries. We all get blitzed, hit, benched, and even cut. But God is using those trials to call us closer to Himself. He transforms us through them to be more like Jesus. See James 1, Romans 5, and Romans 8:28-29.

The difference is the way we respond in our toughest experiences. And I’m not talking about athletic success. Most people can come back from a tough loss or a bad injury. But when we put our faith in God, we trust that He has a purpose behind all the brokenness, hardships, and even evil in the world. He will fix it all eventually, but for now, He fixes us on the inside, bringing us closer to Him as we become more like Jesus (Romans 5:3-5 and 8:29).

Besides the transformation, anchoring in our identity in Christ and giving God all glory is the only way to steer clear of the trap of ego and the sin of pride when we do attain success or notoriety.

How many times do you hear a player say “all glory to God” to start an interview or when accepting an award? If we credit God instead of ourselves when the praise comes in, we’re protected from the kryptonite of glory and cancer of pride, which always brings a fall. Prideful arrogance produces division instead of unity. Unlike the fickle nature of credit and fame, awards and success, the athlete whose identity and foundation are in God is actually secure.

King David modelled this. Read any number of psalms, and you’ll see that he thanked God, praised Him, and declared his allegiance to the Lord above all in both his glorious and beleaguered phases.

• Psalm 107: 1-2: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
• Psalm 78:4: “We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation.”

As I look at the super-sized role of NFL quarterbacks today, I see many QBs humbly and maturely anchored to face, handle, and understand this dynamic—carrying all the pressures and struggles of playing such a central, difficult role on a team, as well as flying in the high altitude of excessive fame, glory, and blame. Check out what many present and recent quarterbacks say about their life and faith:

• • C.J. Stroud — “All glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… Without Him, I’m nothing.”
  • Jordan Love — “I am second, meaning God is first… put God first.”
  • Russell Wilson — “Falling in Love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done!”
  • Patrick Mahomes — “He’s my Lord and Savior… Jesus is everything to me.”
  • Brock Purdy — “Jesus Christ is my Rock. He’s my Lord and Savior… That’s my identity…”
  • Tua Tagovailoa — “All the glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… Without Him, nothing is possible for me.”
  • Lamar Jackson — “God, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… [is] leading us…”
  • Dak Prescott — “My faith is doubled down… I’m thankful that He’s my Savior and He guides me.”
  • Jalen Hurts — “Keep Him in the center of my life… through the highs and lows, He’s greater than all of them…”
  • Bo Nix — “My true joy… comes from the good news of Jesus Christ and actively pursuing a relationship with Him.”
  • Tim Tebow — “When I met Jesus, He showed me who I am… who I belong to…”
  • Dan Orlovsky — “The only solid foundation is what the Bible teaches in Jesus Christ.”
  • Danny Wuerffel — “I’m playing for an audience of One.”
  • Trent Dilfer (who lost his young son Trevin at 5 years of age) — “Since that moment, this walk with Jesus is… serving others… not for myself.”
  • Matt Hasselbeck (who was Trent’s stay-up-all-night-with-you-when-your-pain-is-too-huge-to-sleep-in-training-camp friend that summer) — “Our only hope is… our faith in Jesus.”

  I repeat the big caveat before my last blog about football. Christ-following football players and bold Christian quarterbacks are still flawed humans, just like us. But they can offer insight, encouragement, and inspiration.

  Pressure, responsibility, and fame are carried best in the humility of and confidence in Jesus Christ as the only true and firm foundation for our identity. He is the necessary anchor when the world inflates our importance, or when we feel the intensity of temptation, the weight of defeat, and always when we feel rejected.

  Most of us don’t have the built-in 24-7 community of brothers that NFL players can benefit from, so we would be wise to intentionally build our deep and consistent friendships. We’d tangibly benefit from prioritizing the honest life-discussing and prayerful fellowship that Christian fellowship (church) is meant to be.

  I’m not pushing football on anyone, but I do love the best things I find in the role of a quarterback—uniting the team, taking responsibility for the huddle, communicating a confident and clear vision, resiliently ignoring the odds, as well as hits or momentum (to avoid coasting or discouragement), facing the rush and adapting to blitzes to best deliver the ball so that teammates can score, taking ownership of failure, and spreading the credit to teammates.

  And beyond that, I love seeing an over-celebrated young man humbly point to the only ultimate and perfect man. Jesus is the one who created all and redeemed any who turn to Him, the only one whose glorious worth will cause every tongue to confess and every knee to bow. After all, glory only belongs to Him.

  A final coaching point: Let’s start and continue that humble bow and jubilant confession right now!