Football season returned last Sunday and with it, some tough losses. One of those losses occurred during Monday’s football game where the Denver Broncos faced off against the Seattle Seahawks. The team’s quarterback, Russell Wilson, had tied the game at 10 during the second quarter with a pass to Jerry Jeudy which resulted in a 67-yard touchdown. However, two fumbles at the goal line left the team behind at 17-16 in the last minutes of the game. In the final seconds, however, the team’s kicker, Brandon McManus, couldn’t seal a win with a last second 64-yard kick that sailed wide of the goal post. To smarten the sting, the Seahawks are Russell’s former team, having been traded to the Broncos during the offseason. Wilson had led the Seahawks to two Super Bowls in his 10-year run with the team, including a win in Super Bowl XLVIII over the Broncos in 2014.

Wilson himself played well during the game, completing 29 of 42 passes for a total of 340 yards and no interceptions, the third most passing yards during the NFL’s first week. Wilson’s return to Seattle was also notable after reports of his frayed relationship with the team and the perceived weakening of his game. However, in a press conference addressing the loss, Wilson chose not to focus on the controversy of his trade and instead chose to praise God. After noting how his former home team had booed his return, he shook it off as “That’s sports,” then added, “At the end of the day, I’m going to keep competing. I’m going to keep battling. I know who I am. First of all, I think for me, I’m just grateful God’s given me the chance to play this game.” He also noted his thankfulness for his time in Seattle and how he was looking forward to his new time with the Broncos. Prior to the conference, Wilson also led both teams in prayer after the game had and later tweeted out, “God I thank you for it all! You are worthy of ALL my Praise!”

Wilson’s faith has been in the spotlight throughout his career. In 2015, when he revealed that he and then-girlfriend Ciara Harris were being abstinent until marriage as part of his Christian faith, he received criticism and praise from all sides. His faith was criticized the following year for referring to the sexually explicit movie, “50 Shades of Grey” as “great” and in 2021 he released a video on Twitter encouraging his followers to find the “peace of God.” “We’re constantly thinking about what we want to do, how we want to fix it, how we want to handle this, and we want to do that… How about God, how about Jesus? What would He do… Actually, reading the Scripture and understanding what He wants for us and what He wants for me. I know for me personally, that’s what I’ve been working on. Not trying to find my own peace. I want the peace of God,” he said. As the 2022 season continues to unfold, Wilson remained optimistic during the conference. “It’s all for His glory, and His glory alone. It’s not for anybody else’s. I play for an audience of One, and that’s just for Him.”