Brandin Cooks is a star NFL wide receiver who, after hosting a football camp alongside the Christian organization “He Gets Us” for kids near his hometown of Stockton, California, spoke to Fox News Digital about his Christian faith and how it compels him to act in a certain way and give back to his community.
He Gets Us, as background, is an organization that ran some adds about Jesus during high-profile events like the Super Bowl and which aims to help Americans “move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus – Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between.”
During the sold-out camp that Cooks hosted alongside He Gets Us, at which 700 kids were in attendance, Cooks helped inspire the kids in the way that he was once inspired by watching Jerry Rice play, and he helped give them an unforgettable experience.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about giving back to his community and how he feels about his hometown, Cooks explained, “I think it’s huge. I think it’s always important that you give back, but especially to the community that had an impact on you, you grew up in. Being from Stockton, wouldn’t change it for the world, love the place with all my heart.”
Continuing, he added, that helping fill the kids who attended with hope and inspire them to achieve in life is important, saying, “To be able to inspire kids and continue to give them hope and get them to come back and show face, I think is important.”
Cooks then explained how his faith has led him to achieve things in life, saying, “For me, my faith is my foundation. Christ is, I truly mean it when I say it, everything I have, everything I’ve been blessed with, even from the good to the not so good. He’s always been my foundation growing up and just continue to be able to be a light in this world today.”
Then, speaking about loving one’s neighbors and who those neighbors might be, Cooks said, “Our neighbor is someone that may not look like us, talk like us, dress like us, or whatever the case may be, we were called to love, and God will take care of everything else. We just gotta continue to be that example on how to love, even in the most uncomfortable moments.
Building on that, he spoke about the “He Gets Us” campaign and how it aligns with his values as a Christian, saying, “And I think that’s what they’re talking about, that’s what they’re putting out there. It was just so natural to be able to tag-team with them and be a part of this campaign, a part of this movement, it’s important to me.”
He added, “I definitely lean on [my faith,] but I also remember and don’t forget who I am, the impact I can have on a team on and off the field and in the locker room. For me, I just look at it as an opportunity to be able to go around and make my mark on different cities, different people, different locker rooms, still at the same time producing at a high level. I look at it as a great thing in a sense – I’d rather that than get cut five, six times. That’s the way that I look at it.”
Featured image credit: By Christopher Michel from San Francisco, USA – Brandin Cooks LA RAMS, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90111037