By Mallory Mattingly
Baylor University quarterback Sawyer Robertson had one of his best performances during his team’s recent game against SMU.
He put up “440 passing yards with 4 TDs in addition to completing 34/50 passes in the OT win over #17 SMU,” per the Big 12 Conference.
When asked how he stays focused each week, he pointed to his faith.
Related: Why Baylor University QB Finds His Identity in Jesus Christ
“I definitely try to put the blinders on, and it’s hard — like it’s a struggle,” the quarterback admitted. “It’s hard not to pay attention to it, to be honest. And, you know, I feel like anybody can fall into that where it’s like, ‘Hey, if we don’t go and play in a Big 12 championship, or if I don’t throw for X amount of yards, X amount of touchdowns, then I’m a failure,’ you know, or like, the season’s a failure.”
He continued: “And so there’s that perspective of it, and then there’s this perspective where it’s like, ‘Man, I’m living in answered prayer right now. You know, every single Saturday I get to go out and play a game that I played growing up, literally from the time I was 8 years old to 22. Praying to be in this position, and now I’m in it.’ So just having that perspective, like, the one where it’s like, I have got to achieve these things, or I’m a failure. And the one where it’s like, like, ‘Thank you God for allowing me to do what I can do.'”
“It just takes so much of the pressure off, and I feel like that’s why I’m able to play the way that I can play,” Robertson concluded. “And so all that to answer your question, like, yeah, you got to put the blinders on and have this frame of mind when you play, because otherwise the pressure is going to get to you.”
On Wednesday, Robertson was awarded the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. It’s “presented to the FBS football player who has demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity, and sportsmanship on and off the field,” Baylor football shared on social media.
Speaking about his faith isn’t anything new, though. Last year, Robertson said in a press conference, “My identity comes through who Jesus Christ says I am and what He did on the cross. I know because of that I’m taken care of and because of that, I can play free.”
Baylor is currently 3-2 on the season and will play Kansas State this Saturday at home.
Read Next: ‘I Give All the Glory to God’: Baylor’s Adam Flagler on His Spiritual Transformation
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