Christian NFL Athletes Inspire This Coach With Their Bold Faith

Published: March 3, 2025

Christian NFL Athletes Inspire This Coach With Their Bold Faith

By Movieguide® Contributor

Legendary coach Jim Harbaugh shared that he is extremely impressed by the Christian NFL players who are open about their faith, and he hopes their transparency inspires those looking up to them.

“It’s inspiring,” Harbaugh told Fox News when asked about the recent wave of players who are open with the media about their faith.

One such player is punter J.K. Scott who plays for Harbaugh’s L.A. Chargers.

“He’s our punter, and he’s one of the best punters in the game,” Harbaugh said of Scout. “But he’s also a brother in Christ, and he’s our team chaplain, if you will. We get that on a daily basis, and just to watch him be the kind of person he is, dad that he is, husband that he is, and teammate that he is. Gosh, nobody has it better than us at the Chargers to have him and others — strong Christians like that. It’s pretty awesome.”

“I know that right now, God has a plan for me and if it were to change and weren’t to be in football, I know that He would bring me to a place where I would need to be,” Scott said of his faith in 2018. “My life is not centered on my career or anything like that. There is so much more to my life than just my career.”

Harbaugh, meanwhile, has been open about his own faith for years, often stating that the most important things in his life are “faith, family and football” in that order.

“Those priorities, I can keep things straight in my mind if I can make sure I’m keeping those three,” he said. “It’s just the best advice I’ve ever gotten, it comes from the Bible: ‘Seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be added onto you.’”

The prevalence of faith in the NFL has certainly had an impact on the game at the lower levels. College players at Ohio State University, for example, have formed a robust faith community which is bleeding into the entire college campus as a whole.

Former NFL star Benjamin Watson praised Christian athletes’ boldness earlier this year.

“I love hearing so many young athletes publicly proclaiming the name of Christ in victory and defeat,” he wrote on X. “My sincere prayer is that their lives bear fruit that matches their proclamation and that spiritual leaders in their spheres commit to discipling them as they navigate the arena of sport and life. May these men and women continue to take advantage of every moment and microphone to give an answer for the hope that is within them!”

After multiple Ohio State players professed that Jesus is their Lord all throughout last season, 2,000 students gave their lives to Christ last month.

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