Tampa Bay QB Declares Powerful Truth About Jesus That Gives Life Purpose

Published: March 17, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield knows firsthand that his faith in Jesus gives his life purpose.

“Jesus is the Son of God…He’s the reason we’re here…When you accept that grace, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Mayfield said, per Christhlete. “Whatever you’re going through, there’s something in Scripture that can help you out. It’s been written and it’s the truth.”

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While sharing his testimony with Sports Spectrum’s Matt Forte, Mayfield revealed he didn’t begin searching for God until college.

“Until I got to college, I was basically trying to make things happen on my own and doing what I thought was the way,” he admitted. “When I got to college, I faced my first real adversity of not really knowing who I was.”

“Somebody introduced me to Pastor Adam Starling in Norman, Oklahoma, and that changed my perspective,” the quarterback continued. “I learned I didn’t have to be perfect. I didn’t have to have it all figured out. We’re all born sinners, and we’ve been saved.”

God taught Mayfield a powerful lesson a few years into his NFL career.

“He had to take my career down to the studs and make me realize that I’m more than a football player. There’s much more going on than the game of football,” the athlete revealed. “For me to see that, I had to hit rock bottom. It wasn’t just football — it was our marriage. We weren’t doing well at all at that time. We were trying to have kids and it wasn’t going well.”

“Until my career got stripped down, I was hiding a lot. For me to climb back up, I had to dive into the Word and accept grace,” he continued. “That was really, really hard for me. When I eventually did, I started to see things from a different viewpoint. That was the biggest change in my life. That was a couple of years ago. The best thing I’ve learned throughout the process is that it’s constant work. It’s not like you just get baptized and you’re saved and that’s it. You have to continue to work, because the enemy is out to get you.”

Despite the trial of hitting rock bottom and being unsure if he would ever play football again, Mayfield doesn’t regret the time he spent with God.

“It’s been a journey, but it all happened for a reason. God’s timing was perfect. Tampa feels like home for me now, but that’s because of the foundation my wife Emily and I built — and that foundation is our faith,” he declared. “It’s been such a special ride to let God take us through it.”

In the lowest points of his life, Mayfield leaned into his faith in Christ, declaring the goodness of God over his life and putting in the work to push through adversity.

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