Tom Brady in 2009.
(Photo Courtesy: Keith Allison/Flickr)
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 12:12
Many As One
A few weeks ago, we saw another Super Bowl victory for the New England Patriots and their future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. And whether you love him or hate him, you have to see the value he has brought to his team since becoming the starting quarterback 18 years ago: nine Super Bowl appearances, six wins; three regular-season MVPs, four Super Bowl MVPs; Super Bowl record holder for most wins, passing yards, touchdowns; and the list goes on and on.
There is no doubting the fact that he is one of the most successful and valuable players of all time. But, do you realize that a team made up of nothing but Tom Bradys would be historically bad? The defense would be terrible. It would get destroyed on the offensive and defensive lines. It wouldn’t be able to run the ball, cover the other team’s wide receivers, and it would have the worst kicking game in the league as well. An 0-16 record, no doubt.
But that is the beauty of a team. No matter how valuable one piece is, it needs every part, every role to function in unity in order to flourish! This too is true of God’s people and His Church. It is no coincidence that Paul uses the term “body of Christ” throughout the New Testament. Many parts, many functions, many talents, all operating together as a single unit to the glory of God.
We have been given different gifts, different roles, different areas of influence in our lives, and God wants us to be who He has called us to be, where He has called us to be. I cannot be salt and light at your kids’ school, but you can! I can’t be an ambassador of Christ at your place of employment, but you can!
Let’s ask God to open our eyes to the unique talents, passions and opportunities He has given us, so that as His followers, we can confidently operate as He wants us to, in the places that He has called us to. And in doing that, we can truly be the body of Christ.
— Chris Kelty
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE, FEATURING JUWAN JOHNSON
Juwan Johnson is a tight end for the New Orleans Saints. He went undrafted in 2020 out of college after spending four seasons with Penn State and a fifth at Oregon. He signed with the Saints after the 2020 NFL Draft and has become an integral part of New Orleans’ offense. In 2025, he had his best season as a pro, with a career-high 77 receptions and 889 receiving yards.
Today on the podcast, Juwan Johnson opens up about how putting Christ first transformed his identity beyond the jersey. He shares about how to lead with a servant’s heart in the spotlight, from handling the pressures of the NFL to finding a deeper purpose off the field.
At the 2025 Track and Field World Championships in Tokyo, American Tara Davis-Woodhall was looking to back up her gold medal-winning long jump performance from the Paris Olympics the year before with another winning result. As always, her coaching team and her devoted husband, Hunter, took their place in the stands to cheer her on.
But there was an unexpected mishap just prior to the start of competition that suddenly forced her to make a decision that could impact her performance. She had a malfunction with one of her cleats and had to decide whether or not she wanted her coach to get another pair of shoes ready or if she felt she could stick with the ones she had on.
As she was wrestling with what to do, her husband spoke up. As a Paralympic runner himself, he understood fully what either decision might mean for her and gave her some wise words: “You’re a freakin’ athlete, and whatever you think is the right answer is the right answer.” In that moment, Hunter was trying to get his wife to tap into her intuition and to trust her gut. Whatever she felt would be the best move would be right. He didn’t want her to do something she didn’t feel comfortable or right about, something that could possibly impact her performance or physical safety. They never revealed what her choice was but Hunter’s advice turned out to be totally correct: Tara won gold at the world championships.
Proverbs 2:6-10 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair — every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” God’s Word makes it clear that God has placed within us a divine ability to discern right and wrong. Some call it a gut check and others intuition, but whatever you call it, it is undeniable that Lord gifts us with the discernment to make good choices when we run them through the lens of the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
God doesn’t leave us without help in making the tough decisions, but unfortunately we can sometimes bypass that help and go off of some other guidance rather than what we know to be true and right. When we are rooted in the Word and spend time with God, we can trust that inner sense — that prick of our conscience or that nudge in our spirit — and learn to follow it because that will likely be the wise move in the end.
Even if other sources try to tell you otherwise, don’t let yourself get talked out of what that “knowing” from God is indicating. If you’ve come to know and trust the voice of God in your life and can point to the times when that direction has proven faithful and true, then you can push forward in confidence regardless of how difficult the decision may be. God hasn’t been wrong yet, and He never will be.
Justin Simmons retires as a Denver Bronco, April 19, 2026. (Photo via X/@Broncos)
After nine NFL seasons, including two Pro Bowl selections, Justin Simmons is calling it a career. He made the announcement on Wednesday — 10 years to the day since he was selected in the third round as the No. 98 pick by the Denver Broncos.
He spent his first eight seasons in Denver before playing the 2024 season with the Atlanta Falcons; he didn’t play in 2025. He retires with 32 career interceptions, which ranks second in the NFL since 2016 behind Kevin Byard, and his 30 picks in a Broncos uniform rank sixth in franchise history.
“Being a Denver Bronco was more than just a team. It was my heart, my home and my story,” Simmons wrote in an Instagram post.
He was full of gratitude during his formal press conference on Wednesday as well.
“This is more than I deserve,” Simmons said. “This is truly one-of-one. I can’t put into words how thankful I am for the generosity and the hospitality that you’ve shown my family and I. Like I said, this is beyond my wildest dreams. Ten years ago to the day, walking into the building, eyes [wide] like this, not knowing whose hands I’m shaking, but just wanting to make a difference on the field.”
After a standout career at Boston College, Simmons made his mark on the NFL through appearing in 134 games (118 for Denver), including 124 starts. He was a second-team All-Pro four times, a two-time Pro Bowler, the NFL co-leader in interceptions in 2022, and Denver’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee three different times.
The Broncos created a video montage with Simmons recapping his career, including some of the highlights, such as being named All-Pro and earning his first NFL sack — when he took down New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as a rookie.
“Being a Denver Bronco was more than just a team. It was my heart, my home and my story.”
His tenure in Denver came to an end after the 2023 season when the Broncos opted to release him in order to save money in cap space. Even then, he responded with gratitude toward the organization that gave him a chance in the NFL.
After the transaction became official, he showed up at the team’s headquarters to say “thank you” and “good bye” to team employees.
“There is so much that goes into playing well on Sunday. Even outside of practice. The nutritionist, the athletic trainer, those in the training room, the people upstairs in the front office who help with logistics, and so many others,” Simmons told the Denver Post in June 2024. “I might not have said ‘thank you’ every day I walked in, but I wanted to make sure that my last time roaming those halls as a player I said ‘thank you’ and took time to let them all know that their work and words behind closed doors meant so much to me and played a big part in my success.”
Denver Post columnist Troy Renck wrote, “Employees who have been with the Broncos for the past two decades could not recall a player more gracious in his departure, more intentional in his purpose.”
Those thank-yous continued to come in bulk Wednesday during his retirement press conference. Simmons thanked everyone from the top of the organization and down, including former coaches, players and other staff members.
He also explained what led to his decision to retire. When the Broncos released him, he still wanted to play football and be somewhere that provided a chance to play in the playoffs, as the Broncos never made the postseason during his time with the team. He felt the Falcons gave him that, though it proved tough to be in a new city while his wife, Taryn, and three kids continued to live in Denver and commute to games on the weekends.
“Literally a week-and-a-half into it, it was the most miserable part of being in Atlanta. It was hard,” he said in the press conference. “I felt like I was parenting on FaceTime. It was hard being away from the kids. It was hard seeing Taryn struggle with them out here — not on her own but without dad it’s hard. I missed my wife. I missed my kids. I missed what was so familiar for eight years. It’s things that I took for granted and you don’t know until it’s gone.”
When the 2025 season came around and he was a free agent, he still wanted to play but felt like he needed to be very specific about where that would be. Nothing panned out with the few teams he was interested in.
“But while I was sitting on the couch cheering for the Broncos and watching some of my guys play around the league, there was a sense of peace that I hadn’t really felt before,” he said in his press conference. “Honestly every day that when by, I was still training, still hoping to play, but every day that went by I felt like my relationship with my family was growing. For eight years, I didn’t have that.
“… It came to the surface, like, it’s just time. Praying about it. We wanted to be very diligent and taking our time, but it was just time. I’ve always been so thankful for the crew that I’ve had around my life, the village of people that it takes because they helped me make that decision.”
Those who know Simmons are not surprised by any of this. His character on and off the field is fueled by his faith in Jesus. He describes himself on X as “an imperfect and unworthy follower of Jesus, saved by grace.” On Instagram, he calls himself a “child of the King.” He has long been outspoken about his faith and detailed his journey of coming to salvation in Jesus in an “I Once Was” video with Sports Spectrum.
In a devotional Simmons wrote for the Summer 2024 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine, he said, “When you’re in tune with the Lord, His signs are glaring. Then it’s ultimately up to you to allow the Spirit to work within you to make you start walking in the direction of that sign. God knows what you’re going through. God knows what you’re praying for. Dive into what He’s trying to tell you. Don’t run away from it.”
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” — Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV)
Having taught and coached for 48 years, I always maintained the same philosophy: I believed from Day 1 that it was my responsibility to provide my students and athletes (men and women) an opportunity to be the “best” they could be, given the abilities God had given them.
I also believed it was their responsibility to take advantage of their opportunities. I always encouraged them to do so, even in the times when they didn’t quite agree with me.
In 1991, my men’s team at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) qualified for the NCAA Division I Final Four in Hawaii. We played USC in the semifinals. One of my starting players was not playing well, so I removed him from the game. He sat next to me and I reminded him his seat was at the end. Within a few seconds, he was back sitting next to me. Once again, I reminded him of his place on the bench. This took place three times, and after the third time I gave in and returned him to the lineup.
He never returned to the bench after that, and went on to become an All-American. He took advantage of his second chance.
God gives all of us opportunities to do all things through Him. We need to take advantage of them.
