On Religion: NFL Sideline Sermons During An Intense Time For America
(ANALYSIS) Moments after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, quarterback Jalen Hurts offered a familiar word of testimony: “God is good. He is greater than all of the highs and lows.”
If those words sounded familiar, it's because Hurts — the MVP — shared them earlier on press day, along with several other times when he was in the spotlight: “My faith has always been a part of me. I've always wanted to root myself in that and keep (God) in the center of my life. ... So, through the highs and the lows, He's greater than all of them, and that's something that I can always acknowledge.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni opened his post-victory remarks with: “God's blessed us very much. He gave us all the talents to be able to get here, so first and foremost, thanks to Him. ... Thank God. Thank you, Jesus.”
The coach and quarterback were not alone, because God-talk has become more common after championships than pledges to visit a theme park. But the language used during these testimonies has become more nuanced.
“What they said, and didn't say, was quite interesting,” said Robert Benne of Roanoke College, who founded its Benne Center for Church and Society. Now 87, he has been writing about faith and sports for decades.
“Not one of them talked about God being on their side,” he said, reached by telephone. “They avoided what many would consider evangelistic language, and no one suggested that they prayed to God to help them win. ... They were careful not to suggest, in any way, that they had been manipulating the Deity.”
This is significant since boastful behavior has become the norm in sports entertainment, Benne recently noted in a column.
“This is the era of the expressive self,” he wrote, under a “Why It's Hard To Watch Big Time Football” headline for Roanoke Times. “Dancing, prancing, running wildly, pounding one's chest with a primal scream. How wonderful, according to the legion of cameras that record every gaping mouth. ... The expressive self quickly turns into the aggrandizing self.”
Any fusion of proud, pushy behavior and fervent faith would, in “this highly divided country that we have right now,” lead to cheers among some viewers and just as many jeers from others, said Benne. Even worse, many commentators immediately interpret statements of public faith as political declarations.
On a related issue, millions of Americans have made up their minds about whether God determines who wins and who loses. In a pre-Super Bowl survey, the Lifeway Research team found that about 13% of the respondents “believe God cares who wins the Super Bowl,” while 68% dissented, including 61% that expressed strong disagreement. Another 16% weren't sure, and 4% said the question was irrelevant since God doesn't exist.
Among Christians in the survey, those with “evangelical beliefs” were slightly more likely (19%) than others (11%) to claim that "God cares about the Super Bowl." Catholics were the Christian group most likely to disagree (80%). Believers who go to church more than once a week were more likely (24%) to say that God would be "concerned" about the game.
It’s logical to assume, said Benne, that nonbelievers and believers of various faiths will have different reactions to religious testimonies or gestures before or after athletic contests.
It may not matter if a player merely expresses thanksgiving, with eyes raised to the heavens, or uses the familiar “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” language that many believe originated with the late Reggie White, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who was also an ordained minister.
Truth is, Benne explained, many Americans “just get excited when they see players and coaches who are willing to say, in public, that they are Christians.” In an age of sports headlines about personal scandals, celebrity hookups and bizarre publicity stunts, many viewers will welcome post-game images of players, often with their children perched on their shoulders, embracing their loved ones.
“I think we need to see (more televised images of) players praying together, reasserting their common brotherhood with players on the other side,” he said. “They may be thankful for a safe game, while praying for players who were injured. That’s good piety. Most people would feel positive about that.”
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Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.