With great fanfare, the Philadelphia Eagles fought their way to a Super Bowl win, but with less fanfare, many of the team’s players quietly made their journey with a Bible in hand.
While sports fans know all the stats about the Eagles as the team surged forward to win the NFL’s big game, fewer know that many members of the team feel that their faith in Christ is the one reason for their success. It turns out that the Eagles are one of the more religious teams in the NFL.
One of the first major hints of the team’s evangelism came when winning quarterback Nick Foles thanked God for his success on Super Bowl night. Foles takes his religion seriously and has even said that he wants to minister to young people once his football career is over.
But Foles is hardly alone. A large number of Eagles players have been unafraid to publicly declare their faith in God, according to FaithIt.com.
Last year, for instance, the religious site reported that wide receiver Marcus Johnson very publicly got baptized into the Christian faith with his fellow teammates in attendance around a hotel pool.
Along with MVP quarterback Foles, another player who has been very proud of his faith is fellow quarterback Carlos Wentz, who vowed to play for an “audience of one” through the playoffs.
According to reports, the players’ Christian faith became “the locker room’s binding force” as the team played its way to the Super Bowl.
The Eagles even posted a video to speak to the players’ faith featuring interviews with Carson Wentz, Torrey Smith, Chris Maragos, and others:
“I went to church often growing up, but it wasn’t until I was in my last year of college where I realized I was kind of living off of everyone else’s salvation,” Smith explained in the video. “I wasn’t really finding out things on my own. I wasn’t diving into the Word or exploring that the way I was exploring everything else around me. That’s when I kind of realized I was living the wrong way.”
Maragos also noted how his coming to Jesus saved his life.
In all, religion has been a very important part of the Eagles’ success as it has brought the players closer together as a team and as individuals.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.