Rams RB Sony Michel sets out to 'glorify God' no matter the circumstances

Rams RB Sony Michel sets out to ‘glorify God’ no matter the circumstances

By Jon Ackerman Feb 11, 2022

Los Angeles Rams running back Sony Michel, Jan. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)

Three years ago, rookie Sony Michel played a big role in keeping the Los Angeles Rams from winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl since 1999. As the New England Patriots’ leading rusher, he took 18 carries for 94 yards and the only touchdown of Super Bowl LIII, and the Patriots won the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history, 13-3.

Now, he’s the Rams’ leading rusher. And he’s back at the Super Bowl, this time hoping to play a big role for the Rams, who seek their second world title. They face the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports and faith connect <<

In that strong rookie season, Michel finished the regular season with 931 yards and six touchdowns, then added 336 yards and six more touchdowns in three playoff games, setting a record for most postseason rushing TDs by a rookie. He followed that up by again leading the Pats in rushing in 2019, but battled injuries in 2020, missing seven games due to a quadriceps injury and COVID-19 issues.

He was healthy entering the 2021 season, but then was traded to L.A. late in the preseason. Starting running back Cam Akers had torn his Achilles right before training camp, so the Rams were looking for depth at running back.

Michel didn’t see the field much initially, starting only a Week 3 win over Tampa. But from Week 13 through L.A.’s wild-card win over Arizona, he was the lead back. And with 845 yards and four TDs on 208 carries, he ended the regular season as the team’s leading rusher.

Sony with an explosive run for 35 yards! 💪

📺 @ESPNNFL | @Flyguy2stackz pic.twitter.com/SXzmln0byI

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 18, 2022

Throughout the transition to a new team on the other side of the country, Michel said he has leaned on his faith in God.

“He’s been working tremendously,” Michel said during his media session this week when asked how God has been working in his life. “He’s been doing a lot of work in my life, I believe, this year, especially with my transition here to the Rams — not playing much in the beginning and trusting Him. Trusting my faith in Him and knowing that He put me in this position for a reason.

“Everything didn’t go my way. Sometimes a lot of people lose faith, but I kept my faith, stayed strong, just kept doing what He blessed me to do, and that’s come to work every day, put a smile on my face, bring great energy and come here to compete. And by me being able to do that, I got my opportunity at one point to be able to compete. I took advantage of it and I was able to glorify Him with that opportunity, just to show people, ‘With God, with Jesus Christ on your side, you could accomplish so much. Keeping faith, no matter what the circumstance is. No matter what kind of adversity comes your way, keeping your faith can take you so far, can get you over that hump.’ That’s kind of been my testimony this whole season.”

There’s two things you get everyday you wake up… a chance and a choice 🙏🏾

— Sony Michel (@Flyguy2stackz) January 3, 2022

Akers incredibly returned from his injury in time for the regular-season finale, and he led the team in carries for that first playoff win. He then resumed his starting role for the divisional round and NFC championship game, thus diminishing Michel’s touches.

But whether he’s starting or backing up, Michel aims to be a good teammate — and always a “glory reflector.” He explained that term to Sports Spectrum in 2019 prior to his Super Bowl appearance with the Patriots.

“Once I step out of the house, I want people to be able to see that God is working in my life,” Michel said. “It’s not me working, it’s not me doing the things that I do. It’s Him applying those things in my life … giving me the opportunity to be able to reach the next person, make an impact on the platform that I have. He gave me this platform so I can be able to make an impact and that’s what it’s all about. It’s just reflecting Him.”

Michel said none of this — the stats, the hype, the Super Bowl — ultimately matters.

“Without Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, there is none of this,” Michel said in 2019. “We get all this glory, but the glory is not for us, it’s for Him. We do this for Him. That’s kind of my purpose. So really, none of this matters to me.”

Tags:

Football Sports Spectrum Podcast

SS PODCAST: Former NFL player Benjamin Watson on parenting, mission trips, Biblical justice

By Sports Spectrum Feb 20, 2026

Benjamin Watson with Matt Forte at Super Bowl Media Row in February 2026. (Photo by Sports Spectrum)

THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE, FEATURING BENJAMIN WATSON

Benjamin Watson played 16 seasons in the NFL (2004-19) with the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens. He won a Super Bowl in 2004-05 with the Patriots and played in another with New England in 2007-08.

He is also the author of three books and a college football analyst with the SEC Network.

Today on the podcast, Benjamin joins Matt Forte from Super Bowl Media Row in San Francisco to talk about overseas mission trips, Biblical justice and raising kids to follow Jesus.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

Well done @Sports_Spectrum team!! https://t.co/llMoinTiUu

— Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) February 8, 2026

PLEASE CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING, FOLLOWING AND LEAVING A REVIEW

Tags:

Football

Three years after cardiac arrest, Bills DB Damar Hamlin gets baptized: ‘I got right with God’

By Cole Claybourn Feb 12, 2026

Bills safety Damar Hamlin gets baptized by team chaplain Len Vanden Bos (right) and teammate Christian Benford. (Photo courtesy Len Vanden Bos)

The night of Jan. 2, 2023, changed Damar Hamlin’s life forever. A little more than three years later, the Buffalo Bills safety experienced another life-changing moment — in a very different way — when he decided to get baptized.

On Jan. 9, surrounded by family and members of the Bills organization, Hamlin was baptized by team chaplain Len Vanden Bos and teammate Christian Benford. It was a step Hamlin had been considering for more than a year and one he didn’t want to rush.

>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports and faith connect <<

“It was important for it to be the right time,” Hamlin told Sports Spectrum last week at Super Bowl Media Row. “I wanted my family to be able to make it up to Buffalo to be there. I don’t want to say that I’m a completely new person, but my sense of direction and purpose and alignment with who I feel like I’m supposed to be has been on point. It brings me peace.”

For many, Hamlin’s name remains tied to the cardiac arrest he suffered during a “Monday Night Football” game against the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023. The game was suspended as medical personnel worked to revive him on the field, and what followed was an outpouring of prayer that stretched far beyond football.

When he looks back on his life, he can see how God was forming him to endure that experience and use it to point people toward Him.

“My faith was very strong — always,” he said. “I always had an internal connection to the Lord. It feels like my faith before wasn’t built up for everything. It truly feels like every experience that I live, everything that I’ve been through as a kid growing up, it was moments to prepare me for what God was going to bless me with.

“I feel like all the work I was doing, God truly just hand-picked me and said, ‘I’m going to choose you for this.'”

Hamlin believes the experience positioned him to witness something larger than football. It allowed him “to be at the center of so much love, so much prayer, bringing people together,” and it also brought a bigger spotlight to his foundation, the Chasing M’s Foundation. Designed to support youth and community initiatives such as toy drives, educational scholarships and promoting health safety, the foundation expanded its mission after Hamlin’s cardiac arrest to include automated external defibrillator distribution and CPR training.

Ultimately, his story led thousands around the sports world and beyond to turn to God in prayer, and resulted in millions of dollars raised for God-honoring causes.

“I have people who were never believers — ever — dropping to their knees and talking to God and finding God through caring for me,” he said. “That’s a blessed position to be in.”

Hamlin remained in the hospital for almost two weeks following the incident, and there were questions about whether it was safe for him to return to football, if his body even got strong enough for him to be able to. It was a trying time and a season that left him with a new perspective.

“To have that perspective, to know that God chose me for a higher purpose — even beyond the game — it truly makes me feel like a chosen one,” he said.

Hamlin said his faith journey has remained active since that night in Cincinnati. He grew up in a Christian home and later attended a Catholic high school, where he studied the Catholic faith closely. That experience led him to focus even more on his personal relationship with God.

“That’s why I always feel like I’ve been tied to the Lord — even before,” he said. “I really learned the most through the phase of injury I had this season. I tore my pec, like, Week 7 or 8 and I was down for a few weeks.”

But recently, his relationship with both Benford and Vanden Bos has helped him grow even deeper.

“Len truly has just been pushing me and helping me grow within my faith,” Hamlin said. “We meet once a week and continue to grow.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DaⓂ️ar Hamlin <3 (@d.ham3)

Following the cardiac arrest, Hamlin returned to the field and played in five games during the 2023 season, then started 14 games in 2024. He was limited to only five in 2025 but described this season as the happiest and most focused he’s felt in his life.

The time away from the field proved formative. He said he felt like he learned more about himself and his faith through that injury than anything else he’s experienced.

“That process really taught me so much about myself,” Hamlin said. “I didn’t have the season I wanted, I had the season I needed. I slowed myself down. I got right with God. I had to listen. I had to sit myself down and listen. The isolation away from the team gave me time. I truly think this period of time that I missed this season will prolong my career for however long that I want to play.

“And it ultimately led to me getting baptized. It was exactly what I needed, so I’m not looking back.”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

Tags:

Coaches Football

Klint Kubiak named Las Vegas Raiders head coach: ‘I’m sitting right here because of Jesus Christ’

By Cole Claybourn Feb 11, 2026

Klint Kubiak (26) is introduced as the Las Vegas Raiders head coach, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Klint Kubiak was introduced Tuesday as the new head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and in his first public comments in the role, he made clear where he believes the opportunity ultimately came from.

“I just want to thank God for the opportunity to sit in front of you guys today,” Kubiak said at his introductory press conference. “God had a plan for this day that I could never have seen and I’m just grateful.”

>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports and faith connect <<

The 38-year-old becomes one of the youngest head coaches in the NFL after helping lead the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship on Sunday. Powered in part by Kubiak’s offense, the Seahawks finished the regular season with a 14-3 record and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC en route to the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship. In his one season as Seattle’s offensive coordinator, Kubiak helped the Seahawks offense rank third in points (28.4 per game), eighth in total yards (351.4), eighth in passing yards (228.1) and tie for 10th in rushing yards (123.3).

He now takes over in Las Vegas tasked with leading the Raiders back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. With young stars in tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty already on the roster, the Raiders hold the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and are expected to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a national championship.

But Kubiak said his identity is rooted in something far deeper than wins, losses or job titles.

“I see my identity as a child of God,” he said during Tuesday’s press conference. “I know that I’m sitting right here because of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t always that way. I’ve had some great mentors that helped me who know the Gospels better. My goal is to live out the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and let those values show through in my current coaching. I fall short of that a lot, but I always go back to the building blocks, which is the Bible.”

How great is this from Klint Kubiak?
New Las Vegas Raiders head coach shares about his faith at his introductory press conference.

"I'm sitting right here because of Jesus Christ." pic.twitter.com/obSYZDKR3y

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) February 10, 2026

Kubiak has been open about that foundation throughout his rise in the NFL. Last week during Super Bowl LX Opening Night, he told Sports Spectrum that learning to separate his identity from his profession changed the way he approached coaching and life.

“Your identity is not in your job; our identity is in Christ,” Kubiak told Sports Spectrum. “When I learned that, and I spent more time in the Word from all the mentors I had in coaching that helped me get into Bible studies and read the Word every day, it took a really heavy load off just knowing that I’m a child of God.

“Football is something that I do, but trying to be a good father and be a faithful husband is way more important than any of that.”

"This is my favorite question of the night … Our identity is in Christ."

Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak shared about his faith and gifting his entire team a Bible at Christmas pic.twitter.com/zt2ecn3d1s

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) February 4, 2026

Kubiak’s faith has also shaped the way he relates to players. During the Seahawks’ 2025 season, he provided one of the team’s most memorable off-the-field moments by purchasing Bibles for every player and coach as a Christmas gift.

“That’s the most important thing,” Kubiak told Sports Spectrum when asked about the gesture. “You’re trying to find Christmas gifts for guys every year to show them that you love them, and what better gift than that?”

Kubiak is taking over for Pete Carroll, who went 3-14 in his only season leading the Raiders, which followed 14 years at the helm of the Seahawks, including the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in 2013-14. Prior to Kubiak’s lone season with Seattle, he was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints (2024) and Minnesota Vikings (2021), and held various other roles with numerous teams. He is the son of former NFL coach and player Gary Kubiak.

As he begins his tenure in Las Vegas, Kubiak said he hopes the values he draws from Scripture will continue to guide his leadership — even as he navigates the pressures that come with leading an NFL franchise.

“I fall short,” he said during Tuesday’s press conference, “but I always go back to the Bible.”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

Tags:

Football

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey honored at Super Bowl Breakfast, credits ‘my faith in Jesus’

By Kevin Mercer Feb 10, 2026

Christian McCaffrey (center) with the 2026 Bart Starr Award. (Photo courtesy of Instagram@christianmccaffrey)

As hundreds of celebrities, media personnel and former NFL greats descended on the Bay Area last week to celebrate football at Super Bowl LX, football and faith in Christ were celebrated in a powerful way at the annual Super Bowl Breakfast on Saturday morning.

The pinnacle of the morning, as it is each year, was the presentation of the esteemed Bart Starr Award, given this year to San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey.

>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports and faith connect <<

“I feel just immense gratitude as I’m standing up here receiving this award that means so much to me,” McCaffrey said as he began his acceptance speech at the breakfast.

According to its website, the Bart Starr Award is presented annually “to honor the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community.” McCaffrey posted about receiving the award on his Instagram account on Monday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Christian McCaffrey (@christianmccaffrey)

In his speech, McCaffrey told of the joy of reaching a Super Bowl (which he did in February 2024 with the 49ers) followed by the discouragement of another season derailed by injuries (he played only four games in 2024-25).

“It was in those moments where God was the most evident,” McCaffrey said Saturday morning. “I found myself relying on many verses, one being Psalm 23: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want’ (v. 1). And that, to me, is something that I stuck with for that entire year.

“To stop wanting. To truly surrender. And that was something for me that in prayer and in my support staff and all the people who helped me, I didn’t make it about winning Super Bowls anymore. I didn’t make it about anything else other than surrendering to what the Lord had in store for me.”

Another Bible verse that McCaffrey said has deeply impacted him came from the Book of Exodus.

“The things that were consistent for me — that I truly believe I wouldn’t be standing up here without it — was God, my faith in Jesus, and the people around me. And the verse this year, that I gotta continue to say to myself, is Exodus 14:14, which is, ‘The Lord will fight for you, you must only be still.’ … When you know that all you have to do is be still, all you have to do is continue fighting, all you have to do is show up and do the best job you can, let God fight for you.”

McCaffrey played all 17 regular-season games in 2025-26, rushing for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching 102 passes for 924 yards and seven touchdowns. The 49ers as a whole bounced back from a rough 2024-25 season by finishing 12-5 and earning the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. There, they upended the reigning-champion Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round before falling to the eventual champions, the Seattle Seahawks, in the divisional round.

At NFL Honors on Thursday night, McCaffrey was rewarded for his big year by being named the 2025-26 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He was also recognized that night for winning the Salute to Service Award.

However, being named the recipient of the Bart Starr Award seemed to mean a little something extra to the 29-year-old running back.

“To Athletes in Action, thanks for giving our faith a platform,” McCaffrey said as he concluded his acceptance speech. “Thanks for making this award not just about football but about people like myself and the communities that I’ve been so blessed to be a part of. I just want to say thank you guys for being here and standing for something bigger than yourself, just like we as football players do.”

Athletes in Action (AIA) is the sports wing of the campus ministry Cru. The Super Bowl Breakfast is organized and hosted each year by AIA, and the breakfast always ends with a Gospel presentation. On Saturday, it was Hall of Famer and legendary 49ers tight end Brent Jones who delivered the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“[Jesus] never did anything wrong, and He died on a cross to pay the price for all the things that I did — that we did — wrong,” Jones said. “Then He rose from the dead. More than 500 people saw Him after He rose, and many of them wrote about it in the Bible. He did all this so that you and I could be in relationship with God. To not have to earn His favor by what we do or what we say, but to be completely forgiven and in right standing with Him regardless of what we’ve done or said.

“So life in relationship with Him, today and for all eternity, is a free gift. Nothing you and I can do can earn it. All it takes is simply to acknowledge Jesus as your Savior and trust in Him to direct your life.”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<