Rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans were one of the best stories of the NFL this season.
It was an underdog story from the very beginning, especially since a lot of teams didn’t want to draft Stroud of college after he scored poorly on his Wonderlic and S2 tests. This season goes to show you that those cognitive tests don’t always translate to actual performance in the NFL.
And another thing that was revealed this past year is that a lot of football fans out there like when players talk openly about their faith. Obviously, doing so isn’t a competition, but CJ Stroud spoke more about his relationship with God than anyone else.
Following the Texans victory over the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs, Stroud immediately gave all the glory to God, something he did after every game (win or lose) during his rookie season:
That interview was a nice moment that was broadcasted out to the world following the Texans win, but when NBC posted the video of Stroud’s post-game comments, they chose to cut out the “glory to God” part:
I guess NBC was hoping that people wouldn’t notice?
That omission stirred up a lot of outrage, with many accusing the TV network of being “typical media” and wondering what the point of leaving out Stroud’s faith-based comments was.
And finally, we get to know what the rookie QB himself thought about NBC’s strange video edit, thanks to an interview with Fox News Digital. Stroud was asked how he responded to seeing the edited video, and he responded maturely by saying:
“I love everybody. Christ has called us to love one another and just shine a light. That comes from Him. I really just really want to show that love and just really want people to experience my experience with finding Christ for you all and having that relationship with Him.
I just really want to show love and show people what I stand for. I pray for everybody, and I don’t really have any feeling toward it. I just pray for everyone.”
This all comes just a week or so removed from a moment Stroud had with the media when he said that many players and coaches in the NFL have reached out to him commending his openness about God.
The rookie quarterback also touched on that during the interview, explaining why he’s so eager to share his faith with the media:
“I feel like, of course, football is amazing, but one day this sport will be done. This is our passion, but I think our purposes are bigger than just football, and it’s cool to see people use their platform to show their purpose in the Lord.
So, I think we have a really good community of a lot of believers in the league and really around the sports world.
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 tying to shine.”
