by W.D. Ehrhart
Right after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX last year, Coach Nick Sirianni proclaimed, “God’s blessed us very much. He gave us all the talents to be able to get here. So first and foremost, thanks to Him,” adding later, “Thank you, God, thank you, Jesus.”
At the time, such proclamations worried me quite a bit. In an essay I wrote called “Thank God for the Eagles Victory,” I found myself wondering if Coach Sirianni believed that God is an Eagles fan who made sure the Birds had enough talent to defeat the Chiefs last year? What about the other thirty teams who didn’t even make it to the Super Bowl? Did God make sure those teams’ players didn’t have what it takes? Did the members of those teams not pray hard enough or believe strongly enough in God’s benevolent grace?
Whose side was God on when the Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII? And why, after favoring the Chiefs with victory in that contest, and then again a year later, did God abandon the Chiefs in LIX? Did He decide He didn’t like Taylor Swift’s music anymore? Did He find Harrison Butker’s views on women, homosexuality, and abortion just too uncharitable?
Moreover, I wrote, what will happen to the Eagles next year [i.e. 2026]? Will God continue to bless them with talent? Will they go on winning Super Bowls for all eternity, or at least long enough to be called a dynasty? And if they, too, like the Chiefs and every team before them, eventually fall from the pinnacle of athletic achievement, will they then have lost God’s grace? Will Nick Sirianni find himself saying next year, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Well, “next year” and that sad turn of events has now arrived. On Sunday—a Sunday, no less—the Eagles were eliminated from the NFL playoffs this year, not even making it past the Wild Card round, beaten by the San Francisco 49ers.
After the game, speaking to the press, Coach Sirianni spoke for nearly nine minutes, but unlike after last year’s Super Bowl, when almost the very first words he spoke were “God’s blessed us very much,” he didn’t have a word to say about God or Jesus this year. Instead he spoke about not running enough “explosive plays,” about the 49ers being “coached better,” about the sideline dust-up he had with A.J. Brown, about missing Lane Johnson. He mentioned having “so much faith in the guys who are in that locker room,” but he didn’t mention faith in God.
He did say, “There’s a lot to be thankful for,” but there was no: “Thank you God, thank you, Jesus” this time around. No attempt to explain why God didn’t bless the Eagles this year. No mention of religion at all.
I’m not an atheist. I’m not even sure I qualify as an agnostic. I consider myself a “Shakespearean Hamletonian,” as when Hamlet says to his pal in Act I, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to believe what you like, so long as you don’t try to make me believe it, or try to kill me for not believing what you believe.
But I find it fascinating that athletes only seem to praise God and wear their religion on their sleeves when they win. You never hear an athlete say, “Well, I lost that race [or that game or that match], but I still love God and am grateful I got the chance to compete. And Jesus is still my Lord and Savior.”
When an athlete hits a home run or makes a field goal, you often see them point two fingers, one on each hand, toward the sky and look up. Surely this is meant to signal thanks to God. But you never see an athlete do that if he or she misses the field goal, or strikes out, or loses the race.
And that brings me back to the point I made in my essay almost a year ago: whenever I hear a winning athlete or coach declare “all glory to God” or “I owe it all to Jesus,” I find myself wondering, “Who was God cheering for?”
My own guess is that God is always rooting for each and every contestant to play hard and fairly, to have fun and try not to get injured or injure someone else, and to be a good sport, win or lose.” I can’t say with absolutely certainty, but I strongly suspect that God has more important things on His mind than the outcome of a sports contest, even if it’s the World Series or the World Cup or the Super Bowl.
Like maybe wars in Ukraine, the Holy Land (there’s a misnomer if I ever heard one), and 100 to 150 other armed conflicts going on at any given time around the world. Like maybe killing over a hundred people in the process of kidnapping another country’s head of state. Like maybe killing Renee Nicole Good and calling it self-defense. Like what we human beings are doing to this very finite and fragile planet we’re living on.
Indeed, given that Jesus fed the multitudes for free, and healed the sick without asking if they had medical insurance, and didn’t really have a very high opinion of rich folks, I find it hard to imagine—indeed, impossible to imagine—that God or His Son cares one way or another who wins this or that sporting event.
But if athletes and their coaches are going to make a public display of their religious beliefs, I wish they wouldn’t do it only when they win.
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W.D. Ehrhart is a retired Master Teacher of History & English, and author of a Vietnam War memoir trilogy published by McFarland.