With two more staffers reportedly fired for their involvement in a sexual assault scandal yesterday, the Baylor football program could well be on its way to receiving the dreaded “death penalty.”
Yet despite the dark shadows looming over the university, quarterback Seth Russell and several other Baylor athletes took it upon themselves to travel to Brazil and minister to underprivileged children.
“I, and 33 other Baylor student-athletes, have spent the last two weeks in Brazil sharing God’s love and pouring into children from Maceio and Rio de Janeiro,” Russell shared on his Instagram profile. “Through our sports, we were able to share our faith in hopes of changing lives, not just others, but our own as well.”
The senior gunslinger’s trip came at a time with the entire university facing major upheaval, under intense scrutiny from the collegiate athletics world. Russell was not oblivious to the events transpiring in Waco, expressing deep pain at the chaotic circumstances awaiting him and his returning teammates:
“Although I was in a different hemisphere, the heartache was still immensely present,” Russell said. “However, being in the environment I was, the Lord was easily able to remind me of how great He is.”
“We are broken. We are hurting,” he went on to say. “But at the end of the day, we are His. With that gift alone, there is no reason to not overcome through these hard times.”
It remains to be seen whether Russell will get the chance to play next season, but it’s heartwarming to see such a mature, honest response in the face of adversity from Baylor’s on-the-field leader.