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Before the first kickoff of college football, the Spirit of God broke the huddle with His own play on the campus of The Ohio State University.

According to the student-run newspaper The Lantern, a planned Christian revival was open to the public. Nothing out of the ordinary was planned for this service, except who helped lead it — OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, and former OSU wide receiver Kamryn Babb.

Shortly after the players began speaking, the word spread and students appeared. At the revival service:

  • Approximately 800 to 1,000 people attended
  • 10,000 Bibles were given out to believers and non-believers
  • 60 people were baptized

The event organizers, comprised of several churches from the Columbus area, set up four tubs filled with water for the impromptu baptism service to end the campus event.

Buckeyes Speak Out About Their Faith

Ohio State University football players lead a campus revival service
On August 25, Ohio State University football players led a campus revival (Image Credit: @AlanaTempleton via Twitter)

In an interview with Fox News following the Christian event, Babb, whose career ended due to four ACL-related injuries, shared that many people gathered because “everybody is looking for some sort of hope.”

“I think the human condition wants hope. We throw around the words, hope, love — all these different words — and I think those things that we’re looking for, that we’re searching for can only be found in Jesus,” Babb said. “It was an honor to see my Lord and my Savior move the way that he did, and it was only because of him. It was all to bring him glory. It wasn’t about a football team. It wasn’t about anything else besides Jesus Christ and this country, America.”

Attendees reported the service involved praise and worship and a brief exhortation from God’s Word. This was followed by some Ohio State University football players sharing their testimonies and encouraging others to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Then came the ice tubs from the locker room, where people were led and received Bibles for themselves and others they knew.

“We were praying for years and years for an event like this, and we were praying with expectation. We serve a miracle-working God,” said Egbuka, OSU’s top wide receiver this season. “So we definitely had an expectation when it came out, but God did increasingly and abundantly more than we thought. So, we’re just blessed and thankful.”

A TikTok video that went viral in minutes captures the campus revival.

TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State running back, also spoke to the media following the campus revival. Speaking to the podcast Sports Spectrum, Henderson said: “God is using this team to bring people closer to him.”

Henderson is no stranger to sharing his faith, either. His Twitter profile bio reads: “Jesus Saved My Life | Servant of Jesus Christ | Running Back | Investor.” Back in July, he invested in soul-winning with this note on X:

The spirit of evangelism doesn’t stop with those Ohio State University players. People are praying for the team and not just to win on Saturdays. The city is uniting behind an ardent belief in God. Even the athletics social media handle is getting into the act of sharing a word of faith from offensive lineman Carson Hinzman:

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