Former NFL WR Urges Athletes to Prioritize Gospel Over NIL Deals

Published: May 19, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

Former NFL wide receiver Geremy Davis wants athletes to know that spiritual health is so much more important than any NIL deals.

“How can I talk about the gospel, use the gospel in my platform, use the gospel in my vocation, because these days are evil, and sometimes we put that on the back burner, because we’re like, ‘Man, I have a short period in time NFL, let me just promote myself,'” Davis said in the “Sports Spectrum” podcast with Matt Forte. “I understand it, because branding is a lot, and a lot of times, branding can help carry success after football, but with the time that we do have, man, I just hope that going back to what we are talking about, the priority is the gospel, and then the branding.”

Davis’s little brother, Ethan, currently plays tight end for the University of Tennessee. Davis constantly pours into Ethan, explaining that Christ is more important than NIL deals.

“I’m always trying to instill that into my little brother — he’s a Dog at the University of Tennessee — but he’s experiencing NIL. He’s experienced enough to get this money, the fashion stuff like that. I so desperately want him to know what the true priority is,” Davis said. “Like, I know you can say, ‘All go to God,’ every time I win a game, or you’re about to go play, but like, is that truly instilled in your heart, bro?”

“Like, I truly want that for you, not for selfish reasons, but when we think about the fruits of the spirit, like the peace, the self-control and the love that comes with that, like I want that indwelled in you, and I’m looking at it from a spiritual standpoint,” he added.

Davis has taken his NFL mindset and transitioned it to the golf course. Not only is he the host for the “Golf and Gospel” podcast, but he shares his faith on the course as well.

“Proverbs 14:23 says, ‘In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.’ I understand sometimes we get impatient or discouraged when we aren’t seeing the fruits of our hard work, but His word is true, so the best thing we can do is continue to work. THINGS CAN CHANGE,” the former wide receiver wrote alongside a video of him hitting a ball off a tee.