By Mallory Mattingly
Ole Miss offensive tackle Diego Pounds didn’t try to change his life overnight; instead he chooses to make “one Christlike decision” every day.
“If you just put God first, He will handle everything else for you,” Pounds declared on “The Walk” podcast. “The more that you can be around your Bible and the more that you are filling yourself with that fruit, it just makes you so much better as a person.”
“And I treated it like this. Like every day, I just wanted to make one Christlike decision,” the offensive tackle continued. “I wanted to be more like Christ, you know. He set a perfect example, like, while He was here. Because you can’t change overnight. But if you make one Christ-like decision every day, it’s just like bricks. It’s just building on top of each other. And if you just keep stacking days, stacking days, then you will soon look more like Him.”
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Pounds also spoke about his decision to leave Drake Maye and the University of North Carolina to play for Ole Miss.
“I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed, and Ole Miss was heavy on my heart, like I really wanted to be here. I don’t know why. I’ll be all pro tackle, like all SEC tackles accolades, and it was all about me,” he admitted. “You know, I was making it all about me. Yes, I prayed and prayed for the decision, and God wanted me to be here, but I made it all about me once I got there because I was getting all the love and all the hype from committing.”
“I get here, and things just don’t go as planned for me. I came in hurt. I was starting to struggle to earn my starting spot, and basically, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to turn out,” Pounds continued. “First four games of the season, I actually didn’t start. I just split reps with another guy who’s also a great tackle, and that’s when I completely broke down.”
“I remember finding myself broken down, and I talked to my parents about it, but I couldn’t find the words to say to them, because I feel like I’m letting everybody down back home,” he added. “And I really started to sit there and think, and that’s when I truly called on God, and that’s when I realized that God didn’t bring me here for football. He didn’t bring me here to be this all-tackle, this all-SEC guy, or this all-American football player. He brought me here to be close to Him, and that’s what I realized. And once I realized that, everything took a turn.”
In 2024, Pounds was baptized.
“Today I made the best decision I’ve ever made.. And that was to give my life to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ✝️ Thank you to everyone who came out to support me on this special day🤞🏾” he shared in a post on Instagram.
Like Pounds, we all should remember that change doesn’t happen in an instant. Instead, making decisions daily to follow God’s leading will make the biggest difference.
Read Next: Ole Miss Football’s Head Coach Lane Kiffin Focuses on God As The Season Approaches
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