Two days after a slew of famous country music singers performed at Lipscomb, the three quarterbacks for the Tennessee Titans spoke in the Gathering on Thursday morning to a crowd consisting of Lipscomb students from both the college and Lipscomb Academy.
Quarterbacks Rusty Smith, Jake Locker and Matt Hasselbeck sat down in a Q-&-A with Scott Sager, the university’s vice president of Church Services, to talk about their faiths and, of course, some football as well.
The very first topic addressed was how football and faith work together in the lives of these professional athletes.
“I grew up around football in Colorado, but my parent’s weren’t really strong in their faith until I was in third grade,” Hasselbeck said.
The veteran quarterback went on to say how involved he and his family were in the church even through his high school career.
Locker took the mic next, but according to the newest Titans quarterback, faith did not really come into play until his sophomore year in high school.
“I had a coach who challenged me to become a stronger believe, and he started a Bible study with us, and it kind of grew from there,” Locker said.
When Smith took the mic, he said that faith definitely came first in his life because he did not even start playing football until his eighth grade year.
“I was very fortunate to have a mom and a dad who grew up in a church themselves,” Smith said.
The interview went on for around 30 minutes, but the guys were able to leave the student body and everyone in attendance with some insight into professional football and Christian interaction.
“I don’t think you have spiritual time and then work or family,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s in everything that you do. Be consciously aware at all times of God’s presence in all things.”
Smith, Locker and Hasselbeck talked about what point they were at in their faith walks in college as well. Smith made a point to say that getting involved with the right people and having a mentor helped him grow tremendously in his faith during his college years.
“In college, I had freedom for the first time,” Hasselbeck said. “I wanted to do everything my way, and my way didn’t work.”
Like Hasselbeck, Locker liked the freedoms college offered, but after years of being the ‘life of the party,’ he turned everything around.
“A year ago, I realized that wasn’t who I wanted to be,” Locker said. “This is when I committed myself to my faith.”
The guys did talk also brought up their noted profession in the interview — playing in the NFL. The group discussed what it is like to have the friendly competition of three guys at the same position.
“It’s fun to compete,” Hasselbeck said. “We make each other better.”
“At the end of the day, whoever wins is going to get the best support from the other two guys,” Locker said.
Locker also talked about what it is like to be a leader, and what that means to him.
“As a leader, I want to get everyone on the same page and lead everyone in the same direction. Everything and everyone works together to be successful.”
The quarterbacks also talked about the pressure that comes with being a professional athlete and how they deal with it.
“We say a prayer in the tunnel before every game,” Hasselbeck said. “Our prayer is that we play for an audience of one.”
At the end of the Gathering, each quarterback left the audience with a piece of advice.
“God is great, and He is always going to take care of you,” Smith said.
“Be honest, and don’t really worry about what other people think as long as you know what you are saying and doing is the right thing,” Locker said.
“God doesn’t need my ability. He just needs my availability,” Hasselbeck said.
Video by Joe Sanderson and Sydney Poe