Although hundreds of millions of people around the world will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, Christian athletes will be playing for an audience of one. “The Washington Times” spotlighted several Chiefs players who put faith above football.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is no stranger to the bright lights of football’s biggest stage. He has led his team to the Super Bowl in four of the past five seasons and won two of them so far. He knows what it takes to win, and a big part of that for him is letting God lead the way.
“My Christian faith plays a role in everything that I do,” he said before last year’s big game. “I mean, I always ask God to lead me in the right direction and to let me be who I am for his name. He has a role in everything that I do, and obviously, it will be on the huge stage at the Super Bowl that he’s given me, and I want to make sure I’m glorifying him while I do it.”
Kicker Harrison Butker has become an essential piece of the team’s offense during the past seven seasons. Not only did the kicker nail the winning field goal in the Super Bowl last season, but he also helped seal the deal for the Chiefs in this year’s AFC Championship win over the Baltimore Ravens with a 52-yarder at the end of the second quarter — the final points that the Chiefs would score in that game. However, not even multiple Super Bowl rings or the second highest career field goal percentage in NFL history can compare to the prize that is the 28-year-old’s faith in Jesus.
“God is the most important thing,” he said. “If I didn’t have faith in God, I don’t think I’d be the father I am, the husband I am, the kicker I am. That kind of sets the tone for everything else and everything falls under that, but that gives me the strength to go do everything I need to do.”
Linebacker Drue Tranquill was thinking about Super Bowls when he signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs in the offseason. He definitely did his part to help the team get there, playing a pivotal role in slowing down Lamar Jackson in the Chiefs’ AFC championship victory over the Ravens. But every goal the linebacker has set for himself over the years is rooted in his faith and a prayer that he prayed over his life when he was just 12 years old.
“I was just on my floor and faith had been a huge part of my life,” he said. “I just wrote, after reading Jeremiah 29:11, ‘Lord, you know the plans you have for me, if you give me the platform to reach people, I promise I’ll give it all back to you in full.’ And that’s hung above my bed for the past 10, 11 years of my life.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
