Eagles players discuss faith ahead of Super Bowl LIX

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L-R: Baker Mayfield, Trent McDuffie, Saquon Barkley, Will Anderson, Jayden Daniels (AP Photos)

The “business months” of the NFL calendar have come to a close and, at long last, meaningful football is back.

Contract disputes, trade rumors, and the arrival of fresh faces came to define the 2025 offseason. Yet away from the unrelenting churn of the NFL news cycle, many players find their ultimate worth not in how much money they make, how many touchdowns they score, or how long their careers last. Instead, they find it in Jesus. Here are 15 Christ-following players (in no particular order) poised to make some noise this season.

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Justin Fields, New York Jets quarterback
Fields takes over as the Jets’ unquestioned starter in 2025, with both the player and the team looking for fresh starts this season. The 26-year-old is now with his third team in as many years after battling inconsistent play in his three seasons with the Bears and riding the bench behind Russell Wilson in his one season with the Steelers. Now, after signing with the Jets in March, Fields hopes he can reach the heights anticipated when he was chosen 11th overall out of Ohio State in 2021. Amid the turbulent start to his NFL career, Fields has sought to stay grounded in God’s Word. “I’m low-key addicted to getting in my Bible each and every day,” he said in a press conference last month, “just because I learn something new every day and I’m able to apply it in my everyday life. I was sleeping on reading the Bible earlier in my life and I wish I would’ve started earlier.”

Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end
Hendrickson spent much of the 2025 offseason in contract negotiations with a Bengals team he has starred for since 2021, and it paid off in a big way. The 30-year-old pass rusher will receive a $14 million raise for the upcoming season after posting two consecutive seasons with 17.5 sacks. Hendrickson came into his own with the Bengals after spending his first four NFL seasons in New Orleans; his last four in Cincinnati have all ended with Pro Bowl nods. In the lead-up to Super Bowl LVI following the 2021-22 season, Hendrickson told media members that he seeks to be a living sacrifice. “My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is more to me than just football,” he said. “… So it’s one of those things that anything that I do on the field is to glorify Him, through Him, for Him, for His glory.”

Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman
Smith has experienced quite a bit of success so far in the NFL blocking for Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Last season, however, Smith finally received some personal accolades; the two-time Super Bowl champion was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career after not allowing a sack in the regular season. The former Tennessee Volunteer was rewarded with a record four-year, $94 million contract extension in July, which will make him the highest-paid offensive guard in the NFL. Before his contract extension was announced, Smith appeared on the Sports Spectrum Podcast and talked about how he saw God in the midst of life’s challenges. “[God is] challenging you. He’s not trying to break you down,” Smith said. “He’s trying to see how devout, how devoted, how strong is your faith, because he’s trying to build you into something. He’s trying to build your character up. He’s trying to help you to persevere to understand how powerful you are through Him.”

Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders quarterback
Daniels burst onto the NFL scene as a rookie in 2024-25, leading the Commanders to 12 wins (the franchise’s first winning season since 2016) and a berth in the NFC Championship Game. Along the way, Daniels earned a spot in the Pro Bowl and was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. It’s exactly what the Commanders’ executives hoped for when they drafted the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU with the second overall pick in the 2024 draft. Now, with expectations raised perhaps higher than ever, Daniels faces the challenge of avoiding the dreaded “sophomore slump” in 2025. “It’s been nothing but blessings (with the Commanders),” Daniels told Boardroom in December 2024. “My main platform off the field is spreading the Gospel, bringing people closer to God and knowing that without Him, nothing is possible. With Him? Everything’s possible.”

Christian Benford, Buffalo Bills cornerback
Benford has so impressed the Bills’ front office in his three seasons in Buffalo that the team rewarded him with a four-year contract extension this April. Despite being a sixth-round pick out of FCS program Villanova in 2022, the 24-year-old quickly became a starter for Buffalo that year and has held his spot ever since. Benford has amassed five interceptions and five forced fumbles (including the playoffs) to go along with his 155 combined tackles so far in his career, and he’s been an anchor in the defensive backfield for a Bills team that’s won the AFC East five straight seasons. Benford and company will look to make it six in 2025, but it’s not his top priority. “Making sure I’m spreading Jesus’ light through me to others,” he said in a post-practice media session last month. “… That’s really what my main focus is: prioritizing being a man of God.”

TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots running back
Henderson has been making waves in the Patriots’ facility as second-round pick from April’s NFL Draft. Standing at only 5-feet-10 and weighing 202 pounds, the 2024 college football national champion with Ohio State has impressed his new team with his ability to be an every-down back. Hopes are high that Henderson can elevate New England’s offense and help the franchise win a playoff game, something it hasn’t done since parting ways with Tom Brady. On the Sports Spectrum Podcast before last year’s title-winning season with the Buckeyes, Henderson talked about the responsibility he has as a star football player. “I’m just so thankful,” he said. “As [God] continues to bless me and allow me to play this game, I just want to be able to give everything that I got for His glory. … Just continue to use this platform to lead as many people as I can to the Lord.”

Kaden Elliss, Atlanta Falcons linebacker
The 2025-26 NFL season will be Elliss’ seventh as a pro, and he’s improved in every one of them. Last season — his second as a Falcons starting linebacker — he set a career high in combined tackles (151) and recorded his first career interception. Now 30 and in a “contract year,” Elliss and the Falcons hope the trend continues for another season as the team seeks its first playoff appearance since 2017. The former Idaho Vandal was drafted by New Orleans in the seventh round in 2019 and spent four seasons there before signing with Atlanta, where he’s been a fixture in the middle of the defense. When he was with the Vandals, Elliss told The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, that his passion for football flows from his relationship with God. “My faith is the most important part of my life,” he said. “I’m a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ; that He died and rose from the dead. Honestly, without that, I wouldn’t be who I am. That’s what makes me tick.”

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders running back
Standing at 5-feet-8 and weighing 208 pounds, Jeanty’s size was scrutinized heading into April’s draft, but that didn’t stop the Raiders from drafting the Boise State product sixth overall. Jeanty’s incredible final year in Boise was simply too enticing, considering he posted one of the greatest single seasons in college football history. He rushed for an astounding 2,601 yards (second only to Barry Sanders’ 2,628 in 1988), finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in December, and helped the Broncos make the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. Now, Jeanty is in the NFL with a team that finished last in rushing yards per game (79.8) and yards per rush (3.6), and expectations are rising for the 21-year-old to make a splash. However, being a running back is not what defines Jeanty. “I like to say that I’m a Christian cleverly disguised as an All-American running back,” Jeanty said in a video with FCA last September. “I’ve learned that God has blessed me with amazing talents. I’ve just been able to do a lot of great things with it, but at the same time, not losing yourself in it and understanding that my identity is in Christ.”

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback
Mayfield will be looking to help the Bucs to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season (and win the NFC South for the fifth straight time), and the good news for Tampa Bay is that their quarterback seems to be getting better with age. The 30-year-old earned his first and second Pro Bowl selections the past two years, and he’ll be aiming for a third straight this season. Last year, Mayfield set career highs in numerous statistics, including touchdown passes (41) and passing yards (4,500). As a guest on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in March, Mayfield reflected on what Jesus did for His people. “He’s the reason we’re here. The story of Jesus walking among the flesh — the only perfect Man — and to be sacrificed and die for our sins forever,” he said. “And when you accept that grace, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Will Anderson, Houston Texans defensive end
In light of the attention Texans quarterback C. J. Stroud has received, Anderson was the team’s forgotten first-round selection of the 2023 draft, as much as any No. 3 overall pick can be. But, Anderson’s importance to Houston’s defense as an edge rusher cannot be overstated. The 24-year-old’s 11 sacks were critical in helping the Texans pressure opposing quarterbacks and finish fifth in yards allowed per game a year ago. Anderson is widely expected to take yet another step forward in his third year, both on the field and as a leader in the locker room. But the outside noise isn’t affecting him. His attention lies elsewhere. “My focus is just less on what everybody has to say and more on God,” Anderson told reporters in July 2024. “I think my biggest thing is knowing that, like I always tell y’all, my approval comes from Him. Ultimately, everything that I achieve in this lifetime, I’m putting Him first for it, because He’s the reason why I’m here.”

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver
There’s nothing like home, and that’s where Thielen — a Minnesota native — will be in 2025. In August, the 35-year-old pass-catcher was traded back to a Vikings franchise where he had some of his best years as a pro, including his two Pro Bowl seasons (2017, 2018). The Vikings first gave Thielen a shot in the NFL in 2013 after going undrafted out of Minnesota State, but the team released him in March 2023. After two seasons with the Panthers, Thielen now returns to his old stomping grounds, where he will continue to trust in God’s perfect plan for his life. “It was the journey. It was the path God wanted me to take. It might not have been my choice, but it was God’s vision for me,” Thielen told CBN in 2018 regarding his difficult journey to NFL stardom. “He has a plan for us. In that moment, I might have been a little more frustrated, but the more you know the Lord, you know He’s got a reason and a rhyme for everything and you’ve just got to trust it.”

Jake Bates, Detroit Lions kicker
Bates quickly established himself as one of the better kickers in league as an NFL rookie in 2025, a performance not many general managers saw coming. The Lions gave him a shot and signed him to a two-year contract in June 2024, but only after he turned heads with his big leg in the United Football League. The former college soccer player now heads into the 2025 season with his job as Detroit’s kicker secure as he will look to improve on his already impressive numbers in Year 2. Bates joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast in December, where he talked about glorifying God in whatever job he finds himself doing. “I want to be the best that I can be in this role to show the love of Jesus,” he said, “in whatever way that is, whatever stage that gives me.”

Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles running back
Barkley’s first season with the Eagles was one for the record books. The 28-year-old who lived in Pennsylvania for much of his childhood became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single regular season (2,005 yards on 345 attempts in 16 games). He was in contention for league MVP for much of the year, was named to his third Pro Bowl, and helped Philly win the Super Bowl for the second time ever. A repeat performance from Barkley in 2025 would have the Eagles contending for the title once again. The superstar revealed in June that he had recently become a follower of Christ. “I think that’s what religion and faith is, is having a relationship with God and understanding who Jesus is,” he said at the Super Bowl. “And that’s what I’ve been trying to do this year.”

Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback
McDuffie has yet to end an NFL season anywhere but the Super Bowl, and he doesn’t plan to change that this season. The fourth-year corner out of Washington helped the Chiefs win the big game in his first two seasons, and although the team fell to the Eagles last year, McDuffie recorded another fantastic season individually. Kansas City’s 2022 first-round selection grabbed the first two interceptions of his career last year, and also deflected a career-high 13 passes, on his way to being named a second-team All-Pro. In 2023, he was a first-team All-Pro selection (although he has never been chosen for the Pro Bowl). This year, McDuffie once again figures to be a stronghold in a Chiefs secondary with Super Bowl aspirations. Still, he knows that true contentment isn’t found in Super Bowls or All-Pro selections, but in God alone. “[My faith is] the biggest thing in my life as far as a place of comfort, a place of peace, a place of hope, an understanding of where I am in my life,” McDuffie told Sports Spectrum before Super Bowl LIX in February. “Really, it’s the biggest thing that humbles me.”

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos wide receiver
Sutton posted perhaps his most successful season to date in 2024, catching a career-high 81 passes for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns. It was the second time in Sutton’s seven-year career that he eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau in receiving yards, the first coming in 2019 when he made his only Pro Bowl. Sutton’s production helped the Broncos make the playoffs for the first time since their victory in Super Bowl 50, 10 seasons ago. Sutton — who signed a contract extension in July — will turn 30 on Oct. 10. “First off, I want to say a lot of thank-yous are in order,” he said at the press conference announcing his extension. “I’m very thankful to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to be able to have this opportunity.”