“They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.” — Psalm 106:36-37
Eternal Focus
Herm Edwards’ bizarre touchdown in a 19-17 Philadelphia Eagles last-minute upset of the N.Y. Giants in 1978 is one of the NFL’s most incredible plays. The current head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils, Edwards returned a Joe Pisarcik fumble for six points.
But it pales in comparison to what he is likely most known for. In 2002, he was the head coach of the New York Jets. After some questioning at a press conference that was less than ideal for Edwards, his sound byte became one for the ages.
“You play to win the game,” he said.
Very true on some level. Sadly, we see many families and parents win the wrong game. Churches have lower attendance during summer months, because of Sunday sports leagues for children. Parents are seeing their children’s success be based on how busy the calendar is. Let’s call it, “the soccer mom/AAU dad” phenomenon.
When it’s all said and done, how we live out the Great Commission and invest our time with our most important treasures will tell the story of our lives.
Win a game for eternity or win for the temporal? The choice is yours.
— Jeff Pinkleton
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
Northwestern College kicker Gianna Bennett. (Photo by Zachary Lucy Photography)
Every time Gianna Bennett lines up a kick this fall, it’s already notable because she’s one of only a few women currently playing collegiate tackle football. But as the starting kicker for perennial NAIA powerhouse Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, the redshirt sophomore is making a difference with every made kick.
Earlier this month, she was named to the 2026 AFCA Good Works Team, the first woman to earn the honor in the team’s 35-year history. Each year, the Good Works Team “recognizes college football players for their leadership in community service, academics and athletics.” There were 22 selections this year and just two from NAIA schools.
With every point Bennett scores, supporters have pledged a monetary donation to Every Kick Counts, a fundraising program supporting the stillbirth prevention campaign Count the Kicks. The campaign provides expectant parents with life-saving information that supports healthy pregnancies. Bennett has raised $40,000 over the past four years.
We are thrilled to announce that Every Kick Counts Athlete and Northwestern College kicker Gianna Bennett has been named to the 2026 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team, an annual honor given to college football players for the impact they make… pic.twitter.com/CDL4EXwDcy
Bennett has converted both of her field goal attempts (including a career-long 39-yarder) this season and 12 of her 13 extra points, helping her team to a No. 22 national ranking. This comes a year after splitting the uprights on eight of her 12 field goals and 25 of her 28 extra points. In her first year as a collegian, she became the first woman to score a point in the history of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. People have taken notice of her fundraising efforts.
“[Being named to the Good Works Team] is an awesome and well-deserved honor for Gianna,” NWC head coach Matt McCarty said. “I am proud of her for the work she does on and off the field. She does an outstanding job of using her platform to make a difference and positively impact others.”
Bennett has met many of the families who have benefited from Count the Kicks, including a child from her old elementary school whose life was saved by the program. But her service to those around her doesn’t end there. In addition to her work with Every Kick Counts, the Urbandale, Iowa, native makes time to serve as a mentor and tutor at Northwestern, a volunteer flag football coach, and a small group leader for Northwestern’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter.
Bennett’s commitment to use her platform to serve others is rooted in her faith in Christ. She knows there can be no higher calling than to love Him and love others. And although she was around Christianity growing up, it wasn’t until she arrived at Northwestern — a private Christian school — that her relationship with Jesus flourished. Bennett first enrolled at NWC to join the football team, but once on campus and with her teammates, she has found an encouraging community that points her to Christ.
“Northwestern really gives you the opportunity to make your faith your own and take ownership of your relationship with Christ,” she said in a video for the school. “I didn’t realize how important it was until I came to Northwestern, because there’s a lot of colleges that will say that they’re Christian, but it’s so intentional here.”
𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗨𝗦 + 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗙𝗨𝗟. Meet Gianna Bennett, a secondary education major from Urbandale, Iowa. From breaking barriers on the Raider football team to preparing for the classroom, Gianna is stepping into her calling and making her faith her own. #RaidersStandOutpic.twitter.com/U2h51S9wzA
With two seasons of eligibility remaining after this season, Bennett is on track to surpass the record for most points scored by a woman in college football. The record is 100 by Lebanon Valley College’s Brittany Ryan. Bennett currently ranks third with 70.
Her next opportunity to draw closer to the record, and more importantly to raise more money for a cause so near and dear to her heart, will be Saturday at 2 p.m. ET when the Raiders travel to Hastings, Nebraska, to take on Hastings College.
Fans at a game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” — Luke 6:32-33
Few things in sports create a stronger sense of identity than putting on your team’s jersey. For Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers fans, that jersey can instantly turn a room into “us” and “them.”
Rivalry is part of what makes sports fun. We cheer for our team, celebrate victories, and maybe enjoy a little bantering back and forth. But there’s a point where competition can become division.
Jesus addressed this very human tendency in Luke 6:32-33 (above). It’s easy to be kind to someone wearing the same jersey. The real test comes when a Green Bay fan encounters a Chicago fan — or a Chicago fan encounters a Green Bay fan — in a crowded stadium, a grocery store, or somewhere else in everyday life.
Do we choose mockery and pride, or do we choose kindness and respect? In a culture that can be divided and quick to label others as the enemy, sports fans who follow Christ have an opportunity to model something different. We can enjoy the rivalry without allowing the rivalry to control how we treat people.
Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” We can’t control how another person behaves, but we can control our own response. We can congratulate an opposing fan after a hard-fought game. We can show courtesy in the checkout line. We can laugh together about the rivalry without mocking the other person.
Our team jersey may tell people which team we support, but our actions should show whom we serve. Colossians 3:14 says, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Love your team. Enjoy the rivalry. Compete fiercely. But love your rival, too.
The final score will eventually be forgotten. The way we treated another person may be remembered much longer. And that’s a victory that transcends the scoreboard.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney looks on in a game against North Carolina, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Dabo Swinney heard the noise last season. After a 1-3 start, fans and media pundits questioned whether his time as the Clemson head coach had run its course.
The Tigers made the College Football Playoff the year prior but lost in the first round to Texas. That’s the only taste Clemson has had of the CFP since the 2020-21 season, when it lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl semifinal. That loss came on the tail end of a dominant run by Swinney-coached teams at Clemson, including going to the national championship game four times in five years (2015-16 to 2019-20) and winning it all twice.
That 2024-25 CFP loss came in the first year the tournament expanded to 12 teams. A fanbase that was used to their team being a mainstay in the four-team CFP has found little patience as the team seeks to return in the expanded format.
The Tigers finished 7-6 last season — the most losses for a Swinney-coached team since 2010 — and a loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl didn’t help quell the frustration. Neither did a 51-10 loss to LSU to start this 2026-27 season. But Clemson has since won two straight, including a 22-7 win over Georgia Southern and a 28-20 win over North Carolina on Saturday.
Swinney was asked about how he handles that pressure week to week when the expectations from fans are still so high. Never one to shy away from speaking about his faith, he pointed to God.
“God’s on the throne,” Swinney said in his postgame press conference Saturday. “Football don’t define me. Scoreboards don’t define me. God’s on the throne whether we win or lose. Even if I never win another game, God is still good. That’s where my peace comes from. Period, the end.”
Last year’s record could’ve looked different had Clemson been truer to its identity over the years, Swinney pointed out. With an assist from a sports information staffer, Swinney noted that Clemson has the nation’s highest winning percentage in one-score games dating back to 2011. The Tigers went 1-3 in one-score games last season, including a 46-45 home loss to Duke.
“Obviously we screwed that up last year. That’s on me. That my job to win the close games,” he said in his press conference. “That’s a pretty big stat to lead the nation in one-score wins, but that’s how we’ve won. We’ve won close games. If you’re going to have a great season, you’ve got to win close games. Everybody’s got good players. Everybody’s got good coaches. You’re not just going to walk out there and blow everybody out. You have to win some four-quarter, down-to-the-last-play games.”
Several of his undefeated or one-loss teams could’ve had several more losses if not for winning close games. Those types of wins tend to compound and help a team build momentum, Swinney said. He feels like Saturday’s 28-20 win over UNC can be one of those wins.
“It just puts wind in your sails,” he said in his press conference. “It just creates that confidence, and you have to have that because we’ll have some more tough games along the way. We didn’t win the ACC today, but we’re 1-0, and you can’t win two until you win one. So that’s all we’ve got. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
"My purpose as a man is to glorify God in all that I do. To be a great husband and father. And then to use that platform of football and education to build great men."@ClemsonFB coach Dabo Swinney is our guest on a brand new Sports Spectrum podcast with @MattForte22. pic.twitter.com/Y8HG5wFUHz
After taking over as head coach mid-season in October 2008, Swinney is now in his 19th season as Clemson’s head coach. He’s 189-54 over that span and is Clemson’s all-time winningest coach. At 56 years old, he still feels like he has plenty of tread left. Last season, he made it clear that if Clemson decides to move on from him at any point, he plans to keep coaching somewhere else.
But whatever this next leg of his career looks like, he knows his peace comes from the Lord.
“I know where I came from and God has shown so much favor on my life,” he said in Saturday’s press conference. “I’d just have to be an idiot to lose my peace now because something ain’t going right. Listen, God never says, ‘Oops.’ It’s what I believe. Just keep going. Just keep going, man. Don’t ever quit. I don’t ever quit, I just keep going. I love what I do. Love who I do it with. But my peace comes from knowing that God’s on the throne. That’s where my peace comes from, and no football game can change that. So I don’t care what happens.”
Swinney has long strived to be genuine and authentic, and he makes it well known to recruits and their families that’s he’s a Christian. He lets them know his job is to coach football, but his purpose is to glorify God.
“My purpose as a man is to glorify God in all that I do,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in August 2025, “to be a great husband and father, and then to use this platform of football and education to build great men, to build transformational leaders. That’s my purpose in life.”
Swinney and Clemson continue ACC play at Cal on Saturday, with kickoff set for 10:30 p.m. ET
Carolina Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven in the Stanley Cup Final, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” — Ephesians 5:15-16
The final minutes of a game are when composure matters most. You’ve got the lead, the clock is winding down, and every decision feels heavier. Push too hard and you risk a turnover. Hold too long and you let momentum slip. Managing the clock isn’t just about protecting a lead — it’s about knowing when to act, when to wait, and when to trust your teammates.
The best players are able to stay aware of the circumstances and finish strong. They make intentional choices with every shift, knowing how to control the pace and make the time they have count.
In the same way, the apostle Paul was calling attention to the importance of living with intention in Ephesians 5:15-16: “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Life doesn’t give extra time or redo opportunities, so each moment matters. The decisions you make, the way you spend your energy, and the priorities you set shape your life. They also impact your growth, influence and legacy. Wisdom isn’t just speed or effort; it’s intentionality.
So be careful how you live and manage the clock well. Be intentional both on the ice and in your walk with God. Play the periods you’ve been given with focus. Finish strong, and make every second count.
— Sam Gonzalez, Hockey Ministries International chaplain
