There were plenty of high-intensity matchups to go around during the NFL’s Week 8 slate of games this past weekend — and the players who helped make it happen made sure that Jesus Christ got all the glory.
After leading his team to a 26-15 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud decided to “first … give all glory and praise to [his] Lord and savior, Jesus Christ” in a postgame interview with Fox Sports. The comments came in response to a question about the Texans’ sluggish offensive start to the 2025 season and what sparked the team’s ability to put up nearly 500 yards of offense against the 49ers.
“Without Him, I’m nothing. I’m a broken, wretched, sinful man, and He saved me time and time again,” Stroud said. “I just put my confidence in Him. … Whenever I lack self-confidence, I have God-confidence. … It’s easy to have faith when it’s easy, but when it’s hard and it gets tested [and] you get punched in the mouth — and that happens in this league all the time — what are you gonna do?”
The moment of praise is hardly a first for Stroud. The Houston quarterback has regularly used his platform to extol Christ and His glory in interviews with members of the sports media.
And it seems he’s not the only one to do so.
Following his team’s 39-38 upset victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields revealed a very “vulnerable” moment he experienced in the week leading up to his team’s first win of the season. Speaking to reporters, the Ohio State alumnus said that at one point he was sobbing while lying on his closet floor, overcome not by the “hardships” of football, but seemingly by his faith.
“It’s been a lot for me, emotionally, spiritually. When I was on the field, I was damn near about to start crying. But not because we won, but just because of the goodness of God and just how everything worked for the greater good,” Fields said. Fields said that while he was “talking to my best friend [about] how hard it was and just not wavering faith-wise,” he “had just gotten a text from my sister and my stepmom, and it was just an encouraging text [to] just keep going and keep spreading the faith.”
“It was just a sign from God for me to keep going and [that] I’m in the right place. Yesterday, I was just praying over and over and over again like, ‘Just one win.’ … All that to say is, is that God is real. God is good, and everything that we go through in this life is for a purpose,” he added.
The remarks are especially poignant for Fields, whose future as the Jets’ starting quarterback was uncertain heading into Sunday’s game. As noted by ESPN, Fields was benched halfway through last week’s game and was potentially going to be on the sidelines for this week’s matchup until backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury.
Yet even when faced with his job as the starting quarterback on the line, Fields did not hesitate to direct his focus toward God. While talking with reporters after getting benched last week, the New York quarterback said, “But like I told you guys earlier in the week, I’m about to just be real right now, I’ve always asked God to give me an opportunity and a platform to spread His word and sometimes it doesn’t play out the way you always plan it.”
“I think the position I’m in right now is a great opportunity to spread that message and really kind of get the world to know how I feel about Him, and how great He is,” Fields said. “God’s been with me through the ups and downs, and I’m probably at a low right now, and I think the old me would feel some certain type of way. But it’s just now, like, my faith is so rooted in Christ to where it’s like, like I told you guys earlier this week, nothing can break me.”
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