ESPN Host Rece Davis Shares How Faith Impacts His Life, Career
By Movieguide® Contributor
COLLEGE GAMEDAY host and long-time ESPN broadcaster Rece Davis joined the Sports Spectrum podcast to dissect his career and how faith has played an important role in his life.
Davis shared part of his testimony, reflecting on how his family and their commitment to Christ strengthened his faith.
“I was really fortunate…I grew up in a Christian home where faith, Bible study, attending church every time the doors were open, which I need to do a better job of that now,” he expressed. “We never missed. I remember when I was a kid, we read the Bible as a family every night. There would be Monday Night Football, and I was wanting to watch Monday Night Football until I had to go to bed. But we didn’t do that until we had done our devotional.”
Davis added that his dad served as a deacon, and his family was always helping at the church. But Davis expressed that he had a moment where everything “clicked” for him, and he knew he couldn’t rely on his parents’ faith.
“There was this moment where I knew my faith wasn’t grandfathered in. I was baptized when I was thirteen and stayed active,” he explained.
“Over the course of my faith, I have many moments of repentance, but I don’t have that story that many people have that is so inspirational. I basically came out of the womb being taught the Bible, and I am so grateful for that. And the one thing I found as you get older though is that Satan is going to use any kind of challenge against you, and you can take that for granted too,” Davis said, reflecting on his testimony.
Davis has faced challenges and turned to God for comfort and strength after his son’s near-fatal baseball injury, which Sports Illustrated reported on.
“1 Peter 5:10 talks about after you’ve suffered a little while that the Lord himself will restore you and affirm you. And so I think we all think that we suffer sometimes,” he said on the “Coach Me Up” podcast.
“It’s a reminder to me about perspective and about how all of these things that that we are blessed to do…they can be taken away in an instant,” he reflected on earthly success. “It doesn’t matter at the end of the day.”
“It can be taken away in an instant, and all that really matters is your faith walk, and that is all that is going to resonate later, so you better put your trust in the right thing,” Davis concluded.
Sports Spectrum reported, “Rece Davis is an on-air personality about to begin his ninth season as host of ESPN’s COLLEGE GAMEDAY. He joined ESPN in March 1995 and co-anchored SPORTSCENTER for many years before moving to his role with COLLEGE GAMEDAY.”
Davis recently shared a tweet on X about his good friend David Pollack, who was recently laid off from his ESPN broadcasting job.
Davis wrote, “Class personified. I’ve joked for years that @davidpollack47 is the little brother I never wanted. Truth is, he’s as good a man & as good a friend as I could’ve ever hoped for. He’s a brother to me for life. He’s a man of God. He’s a selfless teammate, an exemplary family man.”
In the video message, Sports Illustrated reported that Pollock stated, “… I have no clue what’s next in my life, but one thing God’s shown me all along the way is that He is for me. He is not against me. NFL, broke my neck, career’s over, find TV, found coaching over the last couple years. Found speaking in the last couple years, so I know God’s got something amazing for me.”