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<\/a>For a day, there was a hot rumor that Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz would speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., today (Feb. 8). As it turns out, he\u2019d been asked, but he was busy \u2014 at the team\u2019s Super Bowl Victory Parade.<\/p>\n
In the end, it was Louisiana GOP Rep. Steve Scalise \u2014 back to work after being shot by an angry gunman<\/a> on a baseball field in June \u2014 who delivered the keynote address. The Catholic congressman said<\/a>, in part:<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to harp on the negative things that happen to us every day. Each of us have struggles in our life. If you just tune that out and you look around at all of the wonderful things that God presents to us, He is sending us signals every day, and He is sending us signs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why was Wentz, who took his team to the postseason but then went out with a knee injury, even considered to speak? This is the pinned Tweet at the top of his Twitter account:<\/p>\n Not everyone\u2019s a football fan, but it\u2019s undeniable that the game has a huge effect on those who follow it, and on the cities that host teams. It\u2019s been a hard slog in Philadelphia, as the Eagles have failed to win a Super Bowl since the event was created in 1967 \u2014 and it hadn\u2019t won any kind of national NFL championship since 1960. That\u2019s a long drought.<\/p>\n But when it finally came, it was a humdinger, a spectacular 41-33 win over the supposedly unstoppable New England Patriots. And then, when the postgame interviews began, this happened (as I noted at the time on Twitter):<\/p>\n This is not entirely news. Foles, like Wentz, is a public Christian. The faith of coach Pederson and tight end Zach Ertz might not have been as well-known outside of Philly football fans, but the religiosity of many of the team members has attracted attention.<\/p>\n From FaithIt.com<\/a><\/em>, in a pre-Super Bowl story titled \u201cThe Philadelphia Eagles: A Band of Bible-Believing Brothers Whose Faith Is Inspiring Millions\u201d:<\/p>\n While several of the Philadelphia Eagles players have either found Christ through the love and examples set by their teammates, or simply grown in their own faith journey, Wentz makes it clear that the goal is not to convert people to Christianity, but rather to love God and love His people.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to be genuine, I\u2019m going to be authentic with believers, non-believers\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter. I am going to love on them. I\u2019m going to treat them all the same. I\u2019m going to respect them,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, as the leader of the football team, I am going to lead everybody the same\u2026 I think guys are willing to talk when you don\u2019t have this self-righteous attitude; when you have that mutual respect, it just makes it a healthier environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The players mentioned above are non-Catholic Christians \u2014 as I noted in an earlier post<\/a>, Foles has ambitions of being a pastor \u2014 but one of the Eagles\u2019 veterans is a lifelong Catholic (and a product of Catholic elementary, middle and high schools). Punter and Louisiana native Donnie Jones, 37, attends Saturday Vigil Mass with other players and coaches before games. When not playing, he and wife Aubrie, along with children Addison and Weston, take in Sunday Mass as a family.<\/p>\n From a Catholic News Service<\/em> piece<\/a> in America<\/em> magazine:<\/p>\n While he has faith in the next guy up on his team, he especially puts his faith in God. Jones, a lifelong Catholic, believes that God has guided him throughout his NFL career and vocation as a husband and father.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of our blessings come from him,\u201d Jones told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. \u201cWe really are truly blessed \u2014 I have two healthy kids, (my) wife\u2019s healthy, I\u2019m healthy. A lot of things to be thankful for.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n There was a time that the mainstream media wasn\u2019t so kind to players proclaiming their Christian faith. During his time in 2010-2011 with the Denver Broncos, QB Tim Tebow\u00a0 (who, ironically, also played briefly for the Patriots and the Eagles) was celebrated by fellow believers, but frequently mocked by the media, for speaking about Christ and for kneeling in prayer before games \u2014 called \u201cTebowing.\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, the media obsession with \u2014 and frequent hostility to \u2014 Tebow\u2019s religious faith, and the circus it caused to follow him, overshadowed his talent and caused him to unwittingly violate the NFL\u2019s chief dictate: Be worth the trouble you cause.<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether the attention is positive or negative, if you deliver on the field, the NFL will tolerate a lot. But if you\u2019re not quite good enough to tip the equation in your favor, see ya later.<\/p>\n Now, we have men with Super Bowl rings boldly proclaiming Christ \u2014 and being allowed to do it. No telling how long the moment will last, but if this is a signal from God, it\u2019s a winning play call.<\/p>\n Images: Wikimedia Commons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at\u00a0Family Theater Productions<\/a>; and check out FTP\u2019s\u00a0Faith & Family Media Blog<\/a>, and our\u00a0YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was a time that the mainstream media wasn’t so kind to players proclaiming their Christian faith — but winning a Super Bowl changes a lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2174,"featured_media":4948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,4,16,15],"tags":[1279,1282,1263,78,1285,259,77],"class_list":["post-4921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith-practice","category-media","category-nfl","category-sports","tag-carson-wentz","tag-national-prayer-breakfast","tag-nick-foles","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-steve-scalise","tag-super-bowl","tag-tim-tebow"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nFrank Reich told The Washington Post in a text message.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n