The Lowdown on Peyton Manning's Faith and Attitude Toward the Sport of Football

Julie Brown Patton : Feb 16, 2016
The Gospel Herald

"I pray to keep both teams injury free, and personally, that I use whatever talent I have to the best of my ability... But I don't think God really cares about who wins football games except as winning might influence the character of some person or group." -Peyton Manning

(Denver, CO)—Fans aren't used to seeing quarterback Peyton Manning pointing to God after touchdowns are scored and games won. People have their own version of what following Jesus Christ looks like, but in his book "Manning," which Peyton co-wrote with his dad Archie, the Super Bowl winning quarterback reveals how his Christian walk may not look the same as anyone else's—but it is no greater, and no lesser. (Photo via Gospel Herald)

As one fan Sarah Jumper stated on Facebook: "He [Peyton] is the greatest football quarterback ever and he's an even greater man. God certainly outdid Himself when He made him and the entire Manning family."

Since Peyton accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 13, he said his faith has been his top priority. He grew up in a Bible-believing home, and said he tries to be the best man he can be, but he would rather his actions outshine his words.

Transcript via Minding the Truth "On God and the Christian Revelation" blog points out insight via book excerpts into Peyton's view of religion and his relationship with Jesus: "Like my dad, I make it a point when I speak to groups to talk about priorities, and when it's school kids, I rank those priorities as faith, family, and education, then football."

"For me generally it had always been the big four: faith, family, friends and football. And I tell all of them that as important as football is to me, it can never be higher than fourth. My faith has been number one since I was 13 years old and heard from the pulpit on a Sunday morning in New Orleans a simple question: 'If you died today, are you one hundred percent sure you'd go to Heaven?'"

"Cooper was there and Eli [Peyton's two brothers] but it didn't hit them at the time the way it did me. It was a big church, and I felt very small, but my heart was pounding. The minister invited those who would like that assurance through Jesus Christ to raise their hands, and I did. Then he invited us to come forward, to take a stand, and my heart really started pounding. And from where we sat, it looked like a mile to the front. But I got up and did it."

Peyton committed his life to Christ that day, and said...

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