Carson Wentz is the former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles who, after finally recovering from a devastating ACL tear in December of 2017, is back to playing with the Kansas City Chiefs. He has signed up with them as a backup for its current star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Wentz describes himself on social media as a “Christ follower,” and has spoken before about how his faith impacts his football career.
As background, Wentz was the number 2 pick in the 2016 NFL draft and, in 2017, was performing so well that he could have been that year’s NFL Most Valuable Player, and even made it to the Super Bowl. But, unfortunately, he was taken out of commission by an ACL tear from which he had trouble recovering, eventually leaving the Eagles in 2021. He then went to the Colts for a season, then played with the Washington Commanders, then the Los Angeles Rams, and is now on the Kansas City Chiefs.
But despite all that career chaos and years of uncertainty, Wentz has remained fully committed to his Christian faith. In fact, he even hosted a worship service in the hotel prior to Super Bowl LII. As Movieguide reports, Wentz said, in Rob Maaddi’s book “Birds of Prey: the Story of the Philadelphia Eagles Faith, Brotherhood, and Super Bowl Victory,” “Given the obvious fact that we’re not in church on Sundays, we’re always looking for ways to implement that.”
He continued, “We would always have chapel the night before, but some guys wouldn’t always make it. It’s tough when you’re on the road and you have plans if you’re going out to dinner. So, it’s really cool to have our own form of church service for anyone who could make it. It’s just normal for us. That was just what we did and what we knew.”
He also spoke about how the teammates would pray together, with Movieguide reporting he said, “I remember that being pretty cool that we got in small groups and prayed with and for each other out loud. It keeps God in the middle of it and strengthens the community as well where we’re not sitting there in church, listening, and leaving. We’re doing this together. We’re brothers in Christ, and that’s bigger than each of us.”
Posting about his newborn baby girl in November of 2023, Wentz wroke about God and His blessings, saying, “Girl Dad x3 ! Meet our new little blessing… Hayes Emersyn 🥰 What a wild week it’s been, but I’m beyond grateful this little girl made her entrance into this crazy world at just the right time so I could be home for it! Gods timing is always perfect…. learning that more and more everyday. So thankful for my incredible wife and all she does for me and our 3 girlies! She was a rockstar once again! 🙌🏻 Welcome to our crazy fam and our crazy adventure, my sweet Hayes. We love you so much already!”
Featured image credit: By All-Pro Reels – https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeglo/51944114342/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116343423