The Philadelphia Eagles made headlines this year for their displays of Christianity, but other football teams have also been sharing Christ with the world. The Dallas Cowboys followed suit with their own public profession of the faith.

Jonathan Evans, chaplain for the Cowboys’, shared a video to Facebook of him baptizing three of his teammates at The Star, the team’s new headquarters and practice facility. Linebackers Justin March-Lillard and Anthony Hitchens, and safety Kavon Frazier all chose to take the leap.

“It was an honor to baptize 3 Dallas Cowboys who identify themselves as Christ followers first,” wrote Evans of the sacred event.

“And like I said in the prayer, baptism is just an external expression about an internal reality,” Evans said in the video. “Now after accepting Christ, he’s a new man. Going under the water means he died with Christ and coming back up means he’s resurrected to the newness of life.”

As the began the first baptism, Evans instructed, “I want to hear you say in front of all your teammates, that number one you’ve accepted Christ and that number two you’ve decided to live for him.”

All three players proudly confessed their faith in front of their teammates, who emphatically cheered them along from the pool sidelines.

Many of the players on the team are already very religious, and the team holds prayers and chapel services on Sunday. According to the American Bible Society, “Dallas is the most Bible-minded city in Texas,” so for some, these baptisms come as no surprise. While some players maintain their religious nature through their entire lives, others need to reconnect with it at certain points in their careers.

Frazier admitted that he was baptized when he was younger, but wanted to do so again as an affirmation of his renewed commitment.

“We all decided we wanted to get baptized again,” Frazier said Thursday. “I got baptized when I was younger. My mom made me get baptized when I was [3 years old]. I was always a believer but this is the first time that I really took it serious, or took God serious, and started fully trusting Him on and off the field with every situation.”

The NFL players also wanted to send a message to the younger generation, that it’s okay “to come out of the closet in their faith.”

“They don’t see their friends really worshiping God and really talking about God,” Frazier told The Undefeated. “Even me growing up, I went to a Christian school all my life, but I really wasn’t going around talking about God. But now it’s different … but from this video, hopefully younger people will start learning [about God] a little bit quicker.”
The players credit the video going viral to God’s plan.

“He made it go viral just so we can use our platform in a whole bigger sense than just football. It wasn’t supposed to blow up, it just happened. We didn’t do it for the press. We did it to renew our vows with God.” Frazier said.

“We spend a lot of our time here [at the practice facilities],” March-Lillard said. “You’re more with the guys here than you are with your own family, so it’s like a family environment. “Our church is here, so for us it was kind of like that’s why we got baptized here, because this is our church, this is where we have Bible study.”