Football is a sport that has clear religious connections, from the Hail Mary pass to Touchdown Jesus to the Immaculate Reception. The likely permanent exit from the league of the NFL’s most famous Christian, Tim Tebow, left me wondering how many other quarterbacks have expressed their Christian faith in overt terms. The answer was eye-opening:
based on my research, 24 out of 32 starting NFL quarterbacks (75 percent) are evangelical Christians.
In some ways, the results are not surprising at all, as we’ve become accustomed to football stars hoisting trophies and announcing, “First of all I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” “
Muscular Christianity” has a long history in this country, manifesting itself through organizations like the
YMCA, the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the
National Association of Christian Athletes. American Christianity has always had a masculinity problem, with fears that identification with “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” will turn otherwise virile males into wispy Victorian Jesus-worshipping nancy boys. Hence the almost obsessive focus in some Christian circles on a
strong body being paired with a strong faith.
But I can’t help but think there’s something else at work here. Although the football audience is broad, it leans heavily toward working class or mid-professional level men, many of whom are likely to think of America as a “Christian nation.” As the team leader and the public face of the franchise, the quarterback must be a paragon of American masculinity—both in body and in spirit.
In football there is a mix of Christian dogma, violence, and capitalism that seems to be an appropriate proxy for American culture. If American football is the sport of empire for the Rome of this age, then the quarterback is surely its most vaunted gladiator.
Here, in quotes, are the faith testimonies of the Christian quarterbacks of the NFL, as well as a few notable exceptions. Quarterbacks are listed according to Week 4 starts, although some injured franchise quarterbacks are also listed. Quarterbacks’ religious affiliation is indicated by the following symbols:
First the AFC, then the NFC, in Division Order:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/poptheology/2015/10/nfl-quarterbacks-christians/
