God Answered This NFL Kicker’s Prayer with an Angelic Encounter

Published: July 30, 2025

By Mallory Mattingly

Atlanta Falcons kicker Bradley Pinion joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast to talk about a spiritual encounter he still can’t quite comprehend.

During high school, he recalled the inner “turmoil” he felt when he was trying to decide where to go to college, so he asked God for a sign. The next day during practice, he went to a field he typically avoided. Suddenly, an African American man drove up in a Prius.

“He said, ‘I’m a pastor from Statesville, North Caroline, and God came to me in a dream last night,'” Pinion remembered. “‘I was supposed to come talk to a kicker from Northwest Cabarrus High School.’ So, at this point, I’m like, okay. And it kind of dings in my head, like, wait, I said a prayer in Statesville…maybe I should really listen to this guy. And it was kind of like my wall fell with the guy. Everything that I had, I guess, been taught or new kind of like just fell down in that moment.”

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“So me and this guy have what feels like a two-hour conversation. It was probably really 10, 15 minutes,” he continued. “And he shares a verse with me, Proverbs 23:7: ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so was he.’ And he talks about the verse and kind of talks to me, just like we’re sitting there having a conversation. And it was an amazing conversation.”

“And I shake his hand, he turns around and walks away. And I bend down to pick up another football, and then I realized, I didn’t catch his name,” Pinion said. “…So, I turned back around to say, ‘Hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.’ And there was nothing there, not a thing there. No Prius, no man, not a stick, no nothing. So at this point like I’m shaking. My mind is just blown.”

“I firmly believe God sent an angel to me because I said that prayer,” the kicker affirmed.

Pinion went on to play college football for Clemson before being drafted into the NFL by the San Fransisco 49ers in 2015.

The athlete, who declares “God is good” in his Instagram bio, continues to use his platform for Christ. Earlier this year, he went on a missions trip with Compassion International.

“Thank you @atlantafalcons and @compassion for coming together and making this trip happen! You could truly feel God’s presence and it is one @kaeleighpinion and I will never forget! If you don’t know about @compassion I urge you to go to their page and learn about what they are doing all across the world. It is life-changing for these kids and families. #puntsforpurpose,” Pinion wrote in a post on social media.

He also partnered with the organization last season for Punts for Purpose, an initiative where Pinion pledged “$1,000 for every punt that lands within the 20-yard line.”

Their goal was to “fund 500 Compassion Survival Centers and help save the lives of 25,000 babies and their mothers.”