An NFL coach and several players chose to glorify God by putting their faith on display over the weekend in the divisional playoffs.
After guiding the Baltimore Ravens to their first AFC Championship game appearance in 11 years by beating the Houston Texans 34-10 on Saturday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh chose to open his postgame press conference by reading a verse from the Bible’s Old Testament. He chose to read 1 Chronicles 29:11 to give all of the glory to God.
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“I just want to start off with this. It was something that was said to me before the game and is just meaningful to me, so I’m going to share it with you,” Harbaugh told the assembled reporters. “Because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“It’s a verse. ‘Greatness, power, glory, victory and honor belong to You. Because everything in heaven and Earth belongs to You. The kingdom belongs to You, Lord. You are the head and the ruler over everything,'” he read.
“There’s an amazing spirit on this team and I just want to kind of give honor and glory where it’s due,” Harbaugh said.
“I want to give honor and glory where it’s due.”
Ravens coach John Harbaugh reads from scripture and gives glory to the Lord after their divisional playoff win vs Houston.pic.twitter.com/yOJR5yxD5e
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) January 21, 2024
Harbaugh, 61, has been outspoken about his Christian faith. The Daily Caller called him: “A fellow soldier of Jesus Christ.”
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens
Some other prominent NFL stars from the playoffs also choose to put their faith on display in front of millions.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was captured on camera praying with a teammate before the game with the Texans on Saturday.
Dope shot of Lamar Jackson praying before the game
God First pic.twitter.com/wrZwvGI541
— TimeoutSPORTS__ (@TimeoutSPORTS3) January 20, 2024
Jackson praised God following the Ravens win over the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 4, according to movieguide.com.
“I just thank God for {giving me the health to play},” he said after the game. “I should have started the presser off by thanking God…The last two seasons I wasn’t able to fight with my team. I had to do it from the sidelines and just cheer guys on. But I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Jackson, a devout Christian, offered some advice to young people in an exclusive interview on The Wunderkind Show podcast last spring.
“You’ve got to keep God first,” he said. “Pray to God, and you’ve got to be consistent with God. It’s not like making a wish, like seeing a shooting star and just making a wish. You’ve got to be consistent when you’re praying to God…He’s gonna hear our prayers.”
The Ravens quarterback told Sports Spectrum in 2019 that his secret to staying humble is praising the Lord.
“I give Him all His praise, the glory, the honor, because of what I am,” he told the outlet. “I could have been doing anything. It’s crazy. I’ll be thinking about it, talking to Him throughout the day, like, ‘Man, I appreciate You, I thank You.’ Because if you feel like you’re bigger than the Lord, that’s when all that success dies. It goes away.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: In reporting about steps that high-profile individuals may be taking toward God, CBN does not endorse past or current behavior that may not line up with the Word of God. As we report positive developments in celebrities’ spiritual journeys, we encourage our readers to pray for anyone and everyone in the news, that the fruit of God would grow in all of our lives.
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Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright © 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
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