Something has shifted in the NFL, and it’s not about the game
According to Benjamin Watson, the era of keeping faith on the sidelines is over, replaced by a new cultural landscape where athletes lead with their convictions and are "freer" to speak out.
"There was an idea that there were certain things that were off-limits because they might be controversial, people might think differently," Watson told Fox News Digital. "So I think that in general you're seeing young people speak more about convictions, passions than they ever were before, specifically as regards to faith."
Watson, a 16-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion, now serves as the editor-in-chief of Sports Spectrum and hosts the podcast "The Just Life with Benjamin Watson."
Watson, an outspoken Christian and a pro-life advocate, who also serves as vice president of strategic relationships at Human Coalition.
"We are in partnership with Compassion International and Adoption is an Option. They're partnering with us during this week at the Super Bowl, and we're bringing awareness to the work of Compassion International as well as Adoption Is An Option, and we are grateful that these two organizations have seen fit to partner with us as we try to inspire fans of sport to become followers of Jesus," he shared on behalf of Sports Spectrum.
Watson believes players are growing more comfortable sharing their faith.
"We're seeing more and more players say it," he said. Watson believes this has started a "forest fire" among players and this encourages more players across the league to share their faith as well. "They've lit a fire in everybody else, and so people are comfortable doing it."
He added that a new generation of coaches also understands and embraces players speaking out about their faith on and off the field.
At Sports Spectrum, Watson said research showed that athletes are supported in speaking out about their passions.
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According to a study by communications firm Pinkston — which surveyed 1,540 adults on a wide range of issues among religious and non-religious adults in America who watch sports at least a few times a month — 74% support athletes using their platforms to promote nonprofit causes that matter to them.
Additionally, 78% of respondents said an athlete's personal character influences how they are perceived. 56% expressed support for athletes sharing their faith.
Watson said NFL players have an ally in him when it comes to sharing their faith.
"I love when I hear guys talk about their faith boldly," he told Fox News Digital. "I love hearing guys talk about their failures boldly. You know, these guys are 25, 26, 30-year-old players who are going along a process of maturation, not only physically and emotionally, but also spiritually."
Watson said "My Cause My Cleats" was started during his last five years in the NFL, where players were able to promote causes that are important to them — some faith-based.
He shared an example of this, "Hunter Henry, he's a tight end for the New England Patriots. And he painted his cleats with Compassion International organization that helps bring kids out of poverty."
Watson said this "humanizes players" and "highlights the fact that the men in the NFL continue to do good wherever they go."
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"It is imperative that we support sports ministries and utilize every avenue to spread the Gospel," Watson said, and emphasized that God can use sports as an avenue.
"There are generations literally of kids and adults and grandparents that will hear, may hear the gospel only through the mouth of an athlete," he continued. "Because they're not going to go to church."
Although Watson acknowledges that God uses church to reach people, he said God can reach us all in many ways.
"God can use anything," he said. "He can use pastors in churches speaking on Sundays — yes, he does that all the time. My father's a pastor and I've learned tremendously from him. But he can also use athletes in a different way than perhaps somebody who is preaching. Everybody has a role. I mean, scripture talks a lot about that. It doesn't matter who planted the seed, who watered it, God brings it to harvest."
Watson shared that his heroes in the NFL included men who spoke out about their faith, citing Aeneas Williams, Kurt Warner, Reggie White, and Darrell Green.
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has also been outspoken about his faith. In 2020, when he was with the Tennessee Titans, he told The Tennessean, "I’m a Christian first, before anything ... When I step out on the field, I want to say thank you for the blessing, for everything, because I don’t have to do this. I get to do this. So I always wear a cross."
Texas quarterback CJ Stroud previously told Fox News Digital it was great to have a big community of Christian athletes in the NFL.
"So, I think we have a really good community of a lot of believers in the league and really around the sports world," Watson told Fox News Digital. "I think the more we can do with our platform, the better we can make this world and, hopefully, really help people if they want the help to find Christ and really understand that God loves you no matter what. That’s really the light I feel like we’re trying to shine."