By Mallory Mattingly
In a new episode of the “Sports Spectrum Podcast,” former NFL player Jeff Saturday explained to Matt Forte how God intervened in his marriage.
Shortly after Saturday married his wife, Karen, he gave his life to Christ and began attending Bible studies. His wife, however, wasn’t a Christian yet.
But she moved to Indianapolis to live with him, and when he hosted a Bible study at his apartment, God “called” her.
“The guy was giving a sermon about testimony. And my wife raised her hand. She goes, ‘I don’t have one right now, but a year from now, I will.’ And, man, it gets me choked up because we didn’t live together as husband and wife for a day before God made this massive change in our marriage,” Saturday shared. “Man, I had been saved. She was now called, and we began to do this journey together.”
Saturday played in the NFL for 14 seasons as a center on the Indianapolis Colts (1999-2011) and the Green Bay Packers (2012).
“And so the reason I tell you that, give you the background, my perspective as a player changed dramatically, right?” Saturday continued. “I worked my tail off to play. I loved ball…I did all the things. I was strong…I did everything that I was supposed to do, but I felt comfortable that God had a plan and He wouldn’t have brought me here for another reason, and whatever it was, I was willing to do it. And I was like, man, God, just give me one year [playing in the NFL]. And then, like we said earlier, one year became 14 years, and so much better than I deserved. But I felt very confident in what God had done.”
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These days, he works as an NFL analyst, but when he isn’t in the broadcast booth, Saturday spends his time with his family.
“Had an insanely good time running my first half marathon with my baby girl in Tuscaloosa. I know we raised her right when she ruined her own time to hang with her old pops for the majority of the race. She finished the last mile in just a little over 5 min 😳 Couldn’t be more proud of her,” Saturday shared in a post on Instagram with his daughter Savannah.
In another post, Saturday celebrated his daughter’s graduation. He wrote, “Beyond grateful that we were able to attend our daughter’s , @savannahsaturdayy graduation this weekend at Bama! Savannah graduated from nursing school at the top of her class with a 4.2 GPA So proud of my baby girl- I say it often – Better than I deserve.”
Saturday thanks the Lord for the transformation that He made in him and his wife and couldn’t be more grateful for the life he enjoys today.
Read Next: ESPN College Football Analyst Trusts God’s Plan: ‘Love Where God Has Me’
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