By Mallory Mattingly
If the University of Texas expects to make any type of run at the National Championship, star safety Michael Taaffe will certainly play a major role.
But Taaffe doesn’t want the spotlight on his talent but rather deflects any praise he gets back to Jesus.
“God’s telling me, ‘Hey, no, I’m on top and you should serve Me.’ I’m just as broken as every single one of y’all. And my faith is the only reason that I have that approach,” the athlete said on “The Same Acho Podcast.”
Taaffe spoke about the privilege he feels when he puts on his uniform each week and his goal to put Texas back on top.
“The motivation you have when you put on that burnt orange…it’s a sense of pride,” he said. “It’s carrying family legacy — fifth-generation Longhorn — while representing something larger.”
“We weren’t in a great spot as a university…My mission was to try to get Texas back to where it always belongs…nothing’s about me right now. I’m working for such a greater purpose, and it pushed me,” he emphasized.
In Week 1 of the college football season, Texas played the reigning National Champions, Ohio State, and took a tough loss.
After the defeat, Taaffe reminded quarterback Arch Manning of the bigger picture.
“We always remind each other before the game that you’re free,” Taaffe said. “God already won the battle on the cross, so everything that we do has no impact in this earth. The plan on this earth has already been finished. So this is not our eternal life. It’s a temporary life. And I told [Manning], ‘Hey, dude, you’re free.’ And we always remind ourselves. So after the game we lost, he’s still free. He still has the ability to do whatever he wants in life, because God came down and sent His only Son to die on the cross. So that’s what I reminded him; he’ll be good.”
Asked Texas safety Michael Taaffe if there’s now a collective sense of being able to move forward without the hype of Arch Manning’s season debut:
“We always remind each other before the game that you’re free. God already won the battle on the cross, so everything that we do has… pic.twitter.com/hhaNl9ZkMK
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 30, 2025
Taaffe and a fellow teammate have started a player-led Bible study that takes place once a week as a place for players to open up and share their struggles and successes.
“We’re not perfect. We’re going to fail. And that’s all right,” Taaffe said on the podcast. “We’re in this together…I hope this is a place where you can just come rest — rest in God’s Word, rest in God’s love and His mercy.”
Taaffe is on a mission to not only to take Texas football to the top but also to share his faith with his teammates and fans.
Read Next: Longhorn Stars Lean on the Lord After Tough Loss: ‘God Already Won the Battle’
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