Panther DB Keeps the Faith Through Grief: ‘That’s All I Got’

Published: September 16, 2025

By Mallory Mattingly

Carolina Panthers defensive back Caleb Farley knows about grief — and knows that God is present through it all.

“I was angry with God, ” Farley told the “Sports Spectrum Podcast” of his feelings after his mother’s death. “But how, as a man, how can you be angry with God? I was even like, ‘Man, that doesn’t make any sense.’ Why does the Bible say, ‘Ask for this and it will be given to you’? I saw my mother beg for healing, you know. And so things like that throw you for a loop. But eventually, it’s almost like I heard the Holy Spirit because I was trying to make my heart be angry with God, like, it’s foolish, so silly to me now.”

“But I was trying to be angry. I was like, ‘Well, but now I’m never gonna get to see my mother again.’ You know what I’m saying, because she would tell me, ‘You’re being silly…that’s unwise,'” Farley continued. “And so that was kind of like the start with my mom, but I still was going on my own way, you know, at a rapid pace, running my race, my own path, my own way, in my heart, rapidly.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOjho4fIMRU

In 2023, Farley lost his father to an explosion at his home in North Carolina.

“I was really emotional earlier. I’ve kind of leveled off a little bit,” he told WCNC-TV. “It’s just been a hectic roller coaster of a ride. Not only today, just for me the past five years, period. So I’ve been leaning on my faith and staying with the principles my mother and my father raised me with and that’s what’s been keeping me going.”

“I’ve always known my father was loved in this community. Growing up as a little boy, I always knew my father was well-respected in this community. So, I appreciate the support, everybody coming out to just check on my family,” Farley added. “All I have in this world is my faith…that’s all I got.”

Farley, who says he’s “so early in this walk,” told Sports Spectrum that he tries to remember that the tragedies of life happen because the enemy is out to “steal, kill and destroy.”

The 26-year-old, who was a first-round draftee in 2021, landing with the Tennessee Titians, was picked up by the Panthers last year, eager to show the NFL what he is capable of.

“Let’s go, Panthers. Man, I’m so happy and thankful for this opportunity. God is good always! Back home in pops old number, 31!!” Farley wrote on social media.