I remember back when I was in school, we all loved watching American football on Sundays. I was a devout Christian and I would often bow my head and pray before kickoff. But did NFL ban praying? Little did I know, it would become an issue.
The debate about whether or not players should be allowed to pray on the sidelines became a huge thing, especially after the NFL updated their policy on how players could express their faith. As I heard about this new policy, I was dismayed. It felt like my small act of devotion was suddenly being dismissed.
But what was the new policy? According to the update, players were allowed to take part in a group prayer, but no more than a brief moment of recognition. So, basically, the time for praying was cut down to a matter of seconds. I couldn’t wrap my head around why this was the case. From what I knew, it seemed like US Supreme Court rulings had established that it was OK for players to take a safe moment to pray.
Observing the behavior of the coaches on the sidelines, I noticed they would often raise their arms and glance around to make sure no one was watching before they bowed their heads in prayer. It felt like this might have been a hidden message to us, the players–pray in earnest, but do it in secret.
Further speculation came from the media. Some outlets argued that the new policy was intended to keep the attention on the game. I thought that this could be a fair point, with people’s focus going in all directions when a player was praying in the middle of a game.
I tried understanding both sides, but it wasn’t an easy thing to accept. I’d grown up in a congregational prayer and always believed in public prayer. I just didn’t agree with this move to restrict us from showing our faith.
I soon found out the policy was brought in after an instance of an opposing team, the Saints, refusing to take the field. After reporting the story, it seemed that the NFL wanted to avoid any similar episodes and issued the policy.
At this point, it was hard to side with the NFL, especially when I knew plenty of players that would spend their Sundays off from football in church. Seeing this as an attack on our faith, I felt a bit heartbroken. Football had been a way for me to express my faith and with the regulations in place, it was now more difficult to do so.
Amid the changes and new policies, I was searching for some comfort from my faith. But this soon seemed more and more difficult as I was bombarded by reports of the NFL’s new rules. I felt like my prayers didn’t matter anymore and I was quickly losing hope.
As I shared my worries with a few of my close friends who understood my faith, one of them said something that struck a chord. He said, “just because the NFL has rules doesn’t mean you can’t pray. You can pray anywhere. And no one can take that away from you.”
Listening to my friend and then looking around I saw that there were other ways to practice my faith–even if the NFL banned praying. I could take my faith anywhere– to the grocery store, to the beach, I could even wear a shirt on Sundays with an inspiring quote– prayer was still alive and well and that was all that mattered.
So while the NFL had put a new rule in place, I hadn’t given up on faith and praying. Every Sunday, I prayed quietly before the game, thanks to the reminder of someone I respected and cherished. Faith may had taken a hit that day but I was constantly reminded of my reliance on prayer and the power it still had in my life.