This Super Bowl Sunday feels different. As the New England Patriots prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday, the conversation isn't just about the Xs and Os — it’s about a massive spiritual movement taking over both locker rooms.

From "pro-life miracles" to players spending their sidelines in worship, here are 11 players to watch this Sunday who are carrying their faith onto the world's biggest stage.

1. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye did not mince words recently about his reliance on faith ahead of Super Bowl Sunday. During a press conference, he told reporters: 

“One of the best things about a football team is that there’s other brothers that are all on the team that are followers of Christ. And to be able to share thoughts and sit down in chapel and listen to our chaplain, Mitch, talk before a game is so powerful.” 

The Christian quarterback added, “Realizing that the night before a game, that we’re in here, spreading the word and listening to the word, and knowing that that’s bigger than football, is just such a thing for me to lean on, and take my thoughts away from football, and know that this is my purpose, and this is why I’m here on this stage today. And [to] be able to shine a light on others and get them to follow Jesus Christ is what I’m here for. And it’s what God put me here to do.”

2. Seattle Seahawks player Derick Hall is a living, breathing pro-life miracle. He was born at just 23 weeks — weighing only 2 pounds and born  without a heartbeat. Despite doctors encouraging his mother, Stacy Gooden-Crandle, to take him off life support, she held strong. After spending months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), a tiny Derick was able to come home. His amazing story from being a premature baby to one of the best linebackers in the NFL has inspired countless souls, and Hall continues to advocate for precious preemies. 

3. Christian Gonzalez, cornerback for the New England Patriots, also talks openly about his Christian faith. Speaking to Sports Spectrum during Super Bowl LX Opening Night, Gonzalez said his faith is everything. 

“At the end of the day, we are more than football players. ... He [God] takes away that anxiety you feel to just go out there and play free and physical.”

Gonzalez continued: “It’s all God. Nothing but thanks for God, and I’m thankful that He’s put me in this position. There’s nothing more I can thank than Him.”

The defensive lineman wears his faith as well, with a cross on his thigh pad, and he writes a verse from Psalms (16:8) into his face makeup: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Speaking to Sports Spectrum, Gonzalez also said he just learned that verse this year. “I think it’s an amazing verse, just keeping my eyes on the Lord amidst everything. To me, it kind of just helped me block out all the noise and not realize all that. Just keep my eyes on Him and trust in Him.”

As he’s grown in his role on the Patriots, the same can be said about his faith. He credits the Patriots’ spiritual community for helping him grow in his walk with God, including team chaplain James Mitchell and teammate TreVeyon Henderson. A good amount of players attend chapel together and hold each other accountable, he added.

4. TreVeyon Henderson of the Patriots is also very open about his faith. His social-media presence on X leads with: “I am nothing without God.”

 

The 23-year-old was also very outspoken about his faith during his college career at Ohio State, and he currently hosts a Christian athlete podcast called The Walk. The Patriots running back, who got engaged last September, shared on the latest installment of his show the news that he and his fiancée eloped ahead of the Super Bowl. 

“The Lord set us free from sexual immorality; he kept us pure for a couple years until we got married,” he said, giving a smile and adding: “Well, I just broke the news.”

5. Christian Barmore, defensive tackle for the Patriots is from Philadelphia, where he attended Sts. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School. After suffering a serious blot-clot diagnosis back in 2024, he credited his faith in God for his recovery, stating, “It’s a blessing of God, man. ... I kept my faith in God.”

6. Christian Elliss is a six-year NFL linebacker who never shies away from talking about his Christian faith. After enduring a few years of not having a true home on the field as an undrafted player, he was picked up by the Patriots. In an interview with Deseret News this week, he said he saw his place on the team as a gift from God. 

“It’s been a huge blessing. God has blessed me. Obviously, the position I’m in now, it wouldn’t have happened if all those things didn’t happen to me."

Elliss comes from a family of 17, with seven of his siblings being adopted, an issue he speaks passionately about. He said in the interview posted below that “God has a special heart for children.”

7. Hunter Henry is the second leading receiver closing out a great season heading into Super Bowl Sunday, and he talks openly about his love of Jesus. 

Seeds were planted early as he watched his father, Mark, serve as pastor when he was a child in Little Rock, Arkansas. In an article on the Patriots’ website, Henry reflected on his upbringing and his dad’s influence on his life saying, “He’s the biggest example of what a man is; I’m just very blessed to be able to have that in my life. Now Sundays look a little different, but it’s still a priority in our life. Church comes first.”

Introduced to the nonprofit Compassion International as a young boy by his father, Henry advocates for lifting children out of poverty “in Jesus’ name.”

8. New England Patriots’ Rhamondre Stevenson has shared the role of Jesus in his life and the impact his teammate TreVeyon Henderson has had on his own faith journey. 

It was just last March that the running back lost his father, and it was the act of losing himself in Scripture that really helped him heal from such a tragedy. His father was only 54. 

“He’s just a great guy to talk to. He’s gotten me deeper into faith and I appreciate him for that. I’m in that Bible a little more than I was a year ago today. I respect him for that, I love him for that and he’s just a great light in that room.”

9. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, does not shy away from sharing his faith. The 2025 Offensive Player of the Year has been incredibly vocal about his foundation in Christ during the lead-up to Super Bowl LX.  

“I’m a follower of Christ, I’m a son, I’m a brother, and then I’m a football player. That’s what I lead with,” he shared with reporters at Opening Night. Smith-Njigba, who often credits his “great community of Christ followers” in the Seattle locker room, sees this Sunday as his biggest platform yet. “I think just staying grounded and giving Him the glory ... this season has just been another testament of that. I’m here to serve the Lord.”

10. Cooper Kupp of the Seattle Seahawks has spokenly openly about trusting God, telling press just this week about how he prepares for heated games like the Super Bowl. 

“Trust in him. Trust him because he knows best. And I shouldn’t need that reminder because I should know that, but this season’s been a great reminder.” 

And he also highlighted the faith of his teammate Brady Russell who has influenced him on and off the field. 

“He’s very outspoken and at peace. I was telling him last week, he was just standing there, worshipping on the sidelines in the middle of the game. And I was like … this is my guy. I love Brady.”

11. Last but certainly not least, Brady Russell, as Cupp shared, has worn his faith on the sidelines this season. Beginning as a college walk-on to now Super Bowl captain for the Seahawks, it was during his time in college that he came closer to Christ, and just last year, he married his wife Annie. 

Sharing the news on social media, the tight end wrote: 

“So thankful for our trust in Jesus that brought us together at the perfect time in the perfect season under the perfect circumstances. It’s not that either of our pasts are without blemish, but they are clearly marked with fruit that only come from lives submitted to Christ. Not by my own doing, but only by the grace of God, was I blessed with such a life-giving woman.”

He spoke this week about how spending time reading the Bible prepares him for the field. 

It’s always fun to watch the game, catch the odd fun (maybe pro-life!) commercial, and pray for a halftime show that isn’t offensive. But this year, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for Signs of the Cross, Scriptures embedded on strips of tape, and the camaraderie that only faith in Christ can allow. 

Go, Team Jesus!