Another College Football Program Is on Fire for Jesus

Published: September 2, 2025

By Mallory Mattingly

The Carson-Newman football team joined the ranks of college football programs on fire for Jesus after 18 of its players got baptized late last month.

According to the Citizen Tribune, the team gathered along the bank of the historic Mossy Creek in Tennessee led by Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Area Director Marty Blakely, FCA’s Lakeway Ambassador Alan Duncan and Drew Eudy, a pastor at Mossy Creek Fellowship.

“Our number one goal is that we want to graduate these kids, but more importantly, we want to develop young men of Christian faith,” said head coach Ashley Ingram of the baptisms. “This is really what it’s all about. I couldn’t be more excited for them as they start their walk with Christ.”

The Carson-Newman Tigers shared a video of the baptisms on their YouTube channel. In the video, Blakely said, “As a former player, knowing the significance that we use this game as a way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with these players and seeing the lives that got changed when I was a player. It’s really humbling for me to be a part of this and to see these guys get baptized and follow through with the decisions they’ve made.”

“It’s been 30 years since Coach Spark started this tradition of baptizing players during fall camp,” he added. “Conservatively, we’re somewhere between 5 and 600 football players who have followed through in baptism and made a public profession of their faith. I think this is the ultimate public profession of faith to show your teammates, and now that the whole university has bought into it and embraced it and our whole community, it just makes this a very special day for us.”

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life,” Carson-Newman Athletics added on X.

“We believe that accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, making that decision, is your salvation experience. But baptism is the true public profession,” Blakely said of what baptism means in someone’s faith journey. “It’s the mirror of Christ dying on the cross, being buried and rising again. We’re the same way. Old self buried under the water, raised to new life. And to do that in front of not just family…And to do that with that brotherhood of football family is pretty special because you cannot replicate what you have as a football team. And He carried that cross to Calvary.”

The Carson-Newman football players were baptized at the conclusion of their fall football camp, showing the team’s commitment to Christ ahead of the season.

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