Multiple blowout wins, a rivalry loss, an unforgettable trek to the college football national championship, and a God who orchestrated it all for His glory. The story of the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes is one for the ages.
Now, executive producers Marlee and Matthew Benson (alongside fellow producers Chris Ritchie and two-time national champion and 2007 Heisman Trophy-winner Tim Tebow) have set out to tell the story with the release of “Redemption,” a three-part documentary on Ohio State’s title-winning football team that magnified the name of Jesus Christ at every step.
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“Redemption” is a Kingdom Films original, in partnership with Serif Creative and Wonder Project. The series was released on Sunday and is now available to watch with a Wonder Project subscription on Prime Video.
Neither Marlee nor Matthew are filmmakers by trade, but they are followers of Christ. And living in Columbus, Ohio, in close proximity to Ohio State, they had a front-row seat to how God was moving on the Buckeye football team. In the summer of 2024, the Lord led them in a most providential way to document the team’s spiritual revival.
“My wife and I go to church here in Columbus, and [former Buckeyes tight end Gee Scott Jr.] actually ended up preaching at our church one Sunday prior to the start of the season,” Matthew Benson recently told Sports Spectrum. “And after hearing Gee preach, we came home and were like, ‘Man, this is so cool to hear what God’s doing in the locker room. This team’s supposed to be amazing this year.’
“We prayed on it and felt called to capture it.”
The Bensons knew Ohio State was among the national title contenders entering the season, but little did they know that — as they told the story of God setting the hearts of young men on fire for Him — they were also telling the story of a national championship team in the making. The original intent was to showcase God at work in the lives of big-time college athletes on one particular team; what that team accomplished just happened to be one of the greatest runs to a national championship in college football history.
“The season ebbed and flowed and ended up obviously winning the national championship,” Matthew said, “and I think just made a bigger microphone for really what the main point of the story is: the radical change that these guys have seen in their lives, and what we’ve seen in Columbus, by people getting exposed to the Gospel.”
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“Redemption” is broken into three parts in chronological order, from the start of fall practice and Ohio State’s first game to the team’s title-winning 34-23 victory over Notre Dame at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 20. Scott was the starting tight end for the Buckeyes that night.
“I was one of the players that had radically encountered the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and was transformed from the inside out,” Scott recently told Sports Spectrum. “I believe the man who entered college at Ohio State and enrolled to play some football left a completely different man. Not because of a football game per se, or anything of human effort, but of the life-changing transformation that only the Lord Jesus could give.”
Scott signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent following the draft and was with the team’s practice squad until last month. Newly married, Scott and his wife, Olivia, have a heart for sharing the Gospel with young, aspiring athletes.
Full of zeal for the Lord, Scott was led to launch an Ohio State team Bible study in 2023, and many trace Columbus’ spiritual awakening to what God did in the hearts of those in that group. A group of college students blossomed into a group of people defined by their relationship with Jesus. Winning on the field — and they did a lot of that — was in service to their greater purpose as children of God.
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“In their biggest moments, and even in their lowest moments, they’re pointing to the Lord,” Matthew said.
Scott agreed.
“The whole entire story (of “Redemption”) kind of just encapsulates this pursuit of young men in a world where we could glorify a lot of things. We want to glorify the One who created us,” he said. “It just kind of encapsulates that message while also capturing, ‘This is the very team that goes on and wins a national championship.'”
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On Thursday, Matthew’s and Marlee’s church, One Church, will be hosting a film showcase featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes shots from “Redemption” and insights from some of the film’s creators. Scott will be there, as will Tebow and his college coach at Florida, Urban Meyer, both of whom also speak in the film.
Proceeds for the event will go directly to the Tim Tebow Foundation.
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