Follow up to: One in three Americans think God decides Super Bowl final score
More than one-quarter of Americans believe that God will influence the outcome of tomorrow’s Super Bowl, but Ray Lewis, one of the most outspoken believers in the NFL, isn’t buying it.
By Adena Andrews | CBS Sports
Ray Lewis was “Tebowing” long before Tim Tebow.
NEW ORLEANS — Minister Ray Lewis, who resides over the house of the Baltimore Ravens, is known for wearing his religion on his shoulder pads. His post game speeches are akin to Sunday sermons as they’re drenched in gratitude to his lord and savior. When accused of using PEDs, he claimed he’s too blessed to be stressed and blamed the accusations on the devil.
With all his religious references, it was surprising when he decided to take God out of the football equation during Super Bowl XLVII media day.
“I don’t believe [God] picks a winner or not,” Lewis said. “What I do believe is that if you give him true credit to say ‘Whatever your will is, so be it.’
“There’s irony in sports. There’s truth. If there’s a winner there’s a loser…. But the bottom line is you never lose when your mind-set is whatever his will is, so be it. If you come out and give everything you got, that’s all you have to do. Whatever happens after that, it happens.”
I don’t think Lewis used the word irony correctly there, but he did acknowledge that God does not have a hand in who wins or loses a football game. And according to a study by the Public Religion Research Institute, 73 percent of Americans agree with him.
However, more than half of Americans do believe “God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success,” according to the study.
