It’s easy for athletes (or anyone) to praise God when their life is going well. It’s another matter entirely to praise Him when trials come. Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed on Sunday he knows how to do both.
On Saturday, the Texans traveled to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. In the third quarter, Stroud heaved a pass to wide receiver Tank Dell in the endzone for a touchdown. However, as Dell was hauling in the catch, his teammate Jared Wayne collided into his knee and dislocated his kneecap.
Respect to Tank Dell for holding onto the ball while his leg is breaking
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) December 21, 2024
Tough.
pic.twitter.com/QU6BgJwYp2
Gosh, that hurts just to watch.
Stroud was distraught at seeing his teammate go down not just because Dell is a teammate, but because he considers the wide receiver his best friend.
People are gonna have a problem with it, but CJ Stroud caring that much about Tank Dell is what I want out of a QB.
— Extend Triston Casas (@AvgBelloFan) December 21, 2024
True leader.
pic.twitter.com/M6q7BEk6Xe
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After the game (a 27-19 win for Kansas City), Stroud had to take questions from the media. Naturally, Dell’s injury came up and Stroud was again started shedding tears. But in the midst of his pain, he still chose to give glory to God despite the loss and losing his best friend to injury.
Here is 2:56 of C.J. Stroud talking about his brother Tank Dell and the importance of praising Jesus Christ despite this emotional time.
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) December 21, 2024
"I always have to praise my Lord and Savior. It's not easy. I try to use it as motivation."
"He is the Prince of Peace. We serve a miraculous… pic.twitter.com/Ni6vmA4jor
"All you can do is really pray," Stroud said after thinking about it for a while. "At the end of the day, God still gets the glory. No matter what happens to me, I know that I am up here by the grace of Jesus, the grace of who He is on my life, in Tank’s life. For anything, left or right, up or down, I always have to praise my Lord and Savior. It’s not easy. After that, I try to use it as motivation. It’s not easy to let it go. That’s my best friend. It’s not easy to move on and keep playing, but I tried to do it as best as I could.”
He also added that he hopes Dell comes to Jesus through this.
When trials come, that proves to be the true test of your character and your faith. Based on this interview, its safe to say that Stroud passed both of these challenges with flying colors.
Thank God for athletes like this man.
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