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Christ is the reason for the incredible victory: McDowell, the NASCAR winner, publicly confessed his faith

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Entering Sunday’s NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500 — the “Great American Race” — driver Michael McDowell was a 100-1 underdog. After the race, which ended shortly after midnight in Florida thanks to two fiery crashes on either side of a rain delay that lasted nearly six hours, it was McDowell celebrating in victory lane.

The win marked his first in the Cup Series after only four top-five finishes in 357 previous Cup Series starts during his first 13 seasons.

“I just can’t believe it,” McDowell said on the track immediately following the race. “I’ve just got to thank God. So many years just grinding it out and hoping for an opportunity like this.”

In the No. 34 car for Front Row Motorsports, McDowell was involved in the first crash on lap 15, but his car didn’t sustain enough damage to slow him down. He was third on the final lap when the two leading cars collided, causing another massive crash. McDowell emerged as the leader, and he held on to win. The final lap was the only lap he led.

During his press conference following the race, McDowell was asked if winning this race matches the dream.

“It does, but whether I win this race or not, it’s not what defines you,” he said. “It’s unbelievable and I’m so thankful, but I’m thankful to have a happy, healthy family and a beautiful wife and a great family. Not everybody makes it to victory lane and for 14 years I didn’t, so just to be here now is just so amazing.”

It was Joey Logano who held the lead down the final stretch of the final lap, but his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski tried to pass on the inside, and instead caused both to spin out. Logano was upset that he didn’t win the famed Daytona 500, but he was happy for McDowell.

“I feel like we had a great shot being where we were and leading on the last lap, but if we couldn’t win I’m really happy to see McDowell win this thing,” Logano told FOX. “He’s a great guy, a great person, a good leader in life and has helped me a lot in my life, so it’s very cool to see him win the Daytona 500.”

McDowell’s win also essentially secures him a spot in the playoffs this fall for the first time in his career. For the 36-year-old McDowell, his success to begin 2021 is a sweet reward for his countless hours of work without a win to show for it.

“There’s been lots of years where I was wondering what the heck am I doing and why am I doing it? I always knew if I just kept grinding that one day everything will line up and go right,” McDowell said after the race.

He later expounded, saying, “When you show up to the race track, and you know that you’re — I don’t even know how to say it — you’re just in the way, taking up space, it’s hard to do that year after year and week after week. So you’ve got to have a bigger purpose than that. For me, it was knowing that I would get an opportunity eventually.”

McDowell told the Sports Spectrum Podcast in early 2019 that he has relied on his faith in God throughout his career, and he wants others to know about the love of Jesus too.

“I’m passionate about people coming to know Christ,” McDowell said. “Part of that is just a realization that you’re either alive in Christ or you’re dead. There’s no in-between.”

McDowell explained that he did not grow up learning about Christianity. When some of his racing mentors introduced him to the faith, it was unlike anything he’d encountered before. Soon after, McDowell sustained a horrific accident in qualifying at the 2008 Samsung 500 in which his car slammed against the wall before barrel-rolling to a stop. Amazingly, McDowell walked away from the wreckage unscathed and went on to race that weekend.

Through his brush with death, God revealed to McDowell the true power of the racing platform he’d been given.

“Once I fully surrendered, I realized that I love speaking and I love talking with people,” he said on the podcast, “and if I’m going to do that, then I need to be doing it, 1) to glorify God, and 2) to lead people to Christ. … That area between your feet, that’s your mission field.”

In 2014, McDowell also spoke with Sports Spectrum about his faith, how he sees his position in NASCAR and what he feels God is calling him to:Now with a Daytona 500 victory to his name, McDowell will try to win again at NASCAR’s next scheduled race, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. ET.
httpss://youtu.be/NlqwEJPtQrs?t=3

Sports

Football Team Under Fire for Reciting ‘Lord’s Prayer’

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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again rattling the gates of a Tennessee public school—this time demanding that football coaches stop praying with their players.

The Wisconsin-based atheist organization sent a Sept. 2 complaint to attorneys for Robertson County Schools accusing coaches at White House Heritage High School and Middle School of unconstitutional religious activity.

According to the letter, an unidentified parent told FFRF that coaches pray with players after practices and before and after games, including reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The organization also alleges that one of the high school coaches brings Christian speakers to team events and that coaches encourage players to attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings.

FFRF says the parent reported that “some students fear being penalized for not reciting the Lord’s Prayer.” The allegation has not been independently verified:

“Here, the football coaches seem to have crossed the constitutional line by leading students in the Lord’s Prayer while acting in their official capacities as school employees, bringing in outside adults to proselytize players, and promoting attendance at a Christian club. Student-athletes are especially susceptible to coercion, and the relationship between student-athletes and their coaches is inherently coercive. Students know that their coaches control their positions on the team, including who plays in each game.”

The atheist group demanded that Robertson County Schools “immediately stop proselytizing and leading football players in prayer.”

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor went even further, declaring there should be no “‘pray to play’ practices” in public-school athletics.

“Public school coaches have enormous authority over their players, and they cannot use that authority to pressure students to pray or attend religious athletic clubs,” Gaylor said. “There should be no ‘pray to play’ practices or other overstepping of the professional boundary between coaches and vulnerable public school students. Robertson County Schools must ensure that participation in athletics does not come with a religious test.”

For the record, the complaint is just that—a complaint, not a court ruling.

FFRF acknowledges the Supreme Court’s 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton decision protected a public-school football coach’s private postgame prayer, but argues the Robertson County allegations are different because coaches allegedly lead students in prayer while acting as school employees.

The out-of-town atheists would rather players listen to profanity-laced rap music than “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Sources: Breaking Christian News

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‘He Was My Childhood Hero’: Bo Nix and Tim Tebow Talk About Jesus and How Their Journeys Are Linked

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Two iconic Denver Broncos quarterbacks are connecting over their faith in Christ, their love of football, and becoming fathers for the first time.

The Broncos organization brought Bo Nix and Tim Tebow together to talk about faith, football, and fatherhood before Nix and Tebow swap their football jerseys on Sep. 20th in a match-up with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Denver – the second game of the NFL season.

Swapping Nix’s No. 10 for Tebow’s No. 15 is special because the jerseys bear the Broncos’ trademark logo, as well as handwritten personal messages to each other on the orange and blue back sides.

Growing up, Nix played football as a kid and at high school in Alabama, where he first met University of Florida Quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) gathering.

“He was my childhood hero watching him play for the Gators,” said Nix.

He, like Tebow, later played quarterback for another Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival team, Auburn University.

Tebow remembers meeting Nix in Birmingham and later, during a televised college game, picking Auburn as the winner over Oregon, telling a national audience, “The name you’re going to remember is Bo Nix.”

Nix transferred from Auburn to Oregon for his senior year and afterwards secured a QB spot with the same National Football League team his childhood hero Tebow played for 13 years earlier.

Picked by the Denver franchise in 2023 and 2010, respectively, Nix and Tebow are most memorable as the only drafted quarterbacks in club history to win playoff games.

Besides playing in the SEC and for the Broncos, both quarterbacks point to their love of Jesus Christ as greater than their shared passion for football.

As new fathers for the first time at ages 26 and 39, respectively, Nix and Tebow now share love for their growing families that they view as incredible gifts from God.

Nix is grateful to Tebow for being somebody he could look up to as a kid and into his teenage years.

“I really understood why you did things; you were doing it for one purpose and person. You were literally trying to share Jesus,” said Nix.

He determined to emulate Tebow in football and faith early in life. “I don’t want football to be about me but about sharing the gospel,” Nix told Tebow during their Jersey Swap video.

Tebow, who will personally give his jersey to Nix in Denver, wrote an inspiring message, then signed it, GB2, like he did when he was on the Broncos’ team roster.

“Your faith, determination, and resilience are second to none. So proud of you. Your brother in Christ,” Tebow wrote. “GB squared means God bless and Go Broncos,” he added.

As quarterbacks who like to talk about winning, Nix remembers Tebow leading the Broncos to an overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2011 AFC Wild Card playoff game.

It’s remembered as the 3:16 win because five game statistics contained those numbers in that order.

The numbers also represent the Bible verse John 3:16, Tebow’s signature eye-black message dating back to his days as a Florida Gators quarterback.

As CBN News reported, over 90 million viewers reportedly searched the internet for the meaning of Tebow’s 3:16 message.

Tebow also pointed to Nix leading the Broncos to a 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in an AFC Divisional Round earlier this year, when Nix broke his ankle, ending the season with surgery.

Beginning with Tebow and his wife Demi-Leigh in July 2025, both QBs are now fathers, experiencing for the first time in their lives emotions both gratifying and terrifying. Fatherhood has moved each closer to the heart of God, they agree.

“I think the thing that hit me the most, especially when we were putting Daphne in the car seat to take her home from the hospital, is the level of responsibility,” said Tebow.

He remembers asking his wife at home, “Where’s the game plan for this?”

“We’ve just been trying to figure it out and learn from people that have gone before us,” Tebow said.

Nix and wife Izzy welcomed their baby girl, Riley Belle, on February 25th after the 2025-26 NFL season.

“It’s been the biggest, life-changing moment for me,” said Nix.

He also respects motherhood even more, now that his wife is a mother, and he’s experiencing what it means to be a Godly father.

“When I leave for work, it’s fine. Izzy’s good. But if she leaves for a couple hours, I’m like, ‘Can you please just come back home?'” Nix said.

This summer, the Tim Tebow Foundation’s expert testimony regarding online childhood exploitation before the United States Congress led to legislation to curb it. And at the United Nations, Tebow and Ambassador Mike Walz recently presented ways in which U.S. efforts to end exploitation will aid nations globally.
Sources:CBN News

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Southern Miss Football Coach Makes Bold Faith Declaration Ahead of Big Win

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Football season is just now getting underway, but Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson drew a lot of attention before his players ever hit the gridiron Saturday.

Ahead of kickoff, Anderson wore a black long-sleeve shirt with the words “Christ Is King” emblazoned in yellow letters across the chest as he and the University of Southern Mississippi team performed took part in the “Eagle Walk” to the stadium.

The team went on to win an impressive 49-3 victory against Alcorn State University.

“I’ve had a bunch of people comment, and I’m pleased that it was noticed,” Anderson said during his weekly press conference. “I mean, the whole point of wearing it was for Christ to be glorified and it to be noticed.”

“I’m super grateful for my bosses that allowed me to be religious [and] use my platform to share my faith,” he continued. “[That is] not probably an easy decision for an AD and a president. But, you know, those are my views. That’s just me trying to use my platform.”

Anderson went on to say he is “saved by grace” and credited God with his success as a coach.

While bold public stances like his often garner criticism, the head football coach said he is thankful the responses online have been overwhelmingly positive.

“You never know what kind of response you’re going to get,” he admitted. “It’s been 99% positive and a few negative, which is what I expected. I wasn’t completely aware of just where it would go.”

He added, “In my opinion, if it makes one person think, then it was worth it.”

Anderson has been vocal about his faith for several years, even through incredible tragedies.

His wife, Wendy, died of breast cancer in 2019, followed soon after by the passing of his father. Anderson’s son, Cason, took his life in 2022, and the coach’s brother, Bryan, died in 2024, following a lengthy battle with aggressive colon cancer.

One of Anderson’s close friends, Larry Fedora, said he “wouldn’t have been able to survive if he didn’t have such a strong faith.”

In 2020, when he was the head coach of Utah State, Anderson told local reporters, “I’m a Christian before I’m anything else. I love the Lord and I feel like God put me in coaching.”

And in an interview five years later with Football Scoop, he said, “My faith comes from Christ, not from me. I’m not tough enough, I’m not big enough to do this on my own.”
Sources:faithwire

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