Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders has made headlines for his physical prowess and skills, as well as his confidence. But there is one side of him one sports analyst is saying everyone is overlooking, and that’s his Christian faith. Writing for Outkick, Armando Salguero describes Sanders as being “a man of faith.” He noted how the media focused on his stats after a game against the Carolina Panthers but no attention was paid to what Sanders did before the game. “But before he did his postgame interviews, he joined several teammates and Panthers players in the middle of the field to pray. This is new for Sanders in the NFL. But it’s not new for Sanders, who often did it both before and after games at Colorado. That didn’t make much (any?) of the wall-to-wall coverage that began with him walking in the stadium in Charlotte to exiting later that evening. Weird,” wrote Salguero.

Salguero theorized that it’s because the media is generally “uncomfortable” with God and any references to Him. He may not be far off. In 2023, the Supreme Court sided with coach Joe Kennedy, stating he was wrongly fired by his school district after continuing to pray on the field. “We’re not at the place where the media mocks God and believers, but there definitely is no embrace of it. No understanding of it. And little coverage of it,” wrote Salguero.

Sanders fills his social media with references to God. After his preseason debut, Sanders praised God. “Thank you GOD. I think overall in life I don’t want anybody to make excuses. I feel like making excuses for whatever situation – you ask God for something, and it’s there, then you’re going to complain about it?” He added, “God’s patient with us as humans. We mess up at times, but I don’t feel like he throws us away as individuals. [There are] different things and different life lessons you got to go through, and I haven’t went through this situation that I’m in ever.”

Sanders, of course, comes from a legacy of faith, thanks to his father Deion Sanders. His father has been outspoken about his own faith throughout his own NFL career and has continued to praise God despite a recent bladder cancer diagnosis. Sanders isn’t alone in being known for his faith; the Chiefs Harrison Butker drew praise and criticism during a graduation ceremony speech where he admonished women to turn their attention to motherhood. But Shedeur Sanders’s faith has yet to make the major headlines. Given the imminent beginning of the season, however, he may need it more than ever.