13-Year NFL Vet Keeps Playing Football for This God-Glorifying Reason

Published: August 21, 2024

13-Year NFL Vet Keeps Playing Football for This God-Glorifying Reason

By Movieguide® Contributor

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis is approaching his 13th season in the NFL, and while he’s one of the oldest linebackers in the league, he knows God is still using him for a greater purpose.

“Why am I still playing? It’s because God is not done with what He’s doing with me in the game yet,” the 35-year-old told listeners on Fox Sports Radio’s “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd. “I’ll play as long as He tells me to keep going because it’s Him that’s extending my platform because He knows what I’m gonna do with it. He knows every time I get in a seat like this, I’m gonna give glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m gonna say it’s because of Him that I’m here.”

“He wants to have that same type of connection and relationship with you…[My career is] a platform that gives me an opportunity to talk about Him, and as long as He wants to use it for that, I’m gonna do it,” he added.

"He knows every time I get in a seat like this, I'm going to give glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Saints LB @demario__davis gives glory to God in an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. pic.twitter.com/vIc7izgegy

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) August 13, 2024

In 2017, Davis seriously considered retiring. However, the Lord had other plans for him.

“I was ready to retire, and I said, ‘God, my body is broke down, my mind is broke down, I can’t do it anymore. But if You want me to go forward, I’ll keep going.’ And I’m praying this,” Davis recalled. “God literally spoke to me internally and was just like, ‘I got it. You wave the white flag, I got it from here.’ And so I can’t help but to use this platform to continue to give Him glory every time.”

“I’m like, ‘God, OK. I surrender. I wave the white flag,'” he explained in an issue of Sports Spectrum Magazine. “… If You want me to go forward, You have to rejuvenate my mind. You have to rejuvenate my body.'”

God’s response? “Thank you for getting out of My way. The one thing I don’t want you to do is forget that you waved the white flag.”

For more inspiring sports stories, check out Sports Spectrum.

Movieguide® previously reported on Davis’s faith:

Even after Davis moved the Saints, the 2021 season had glimpses of his previous losing teams when they went on a 5-game losing streak.

However, Davis—outspoken about his Christian faith—turned to prayer amid adversity on the field.

“I remember asking God, ‘Why am I going through this again?’ Because at least in my relationship with God, if I feel like I’m going through the same thing, there’s something I didn’t learn the first time,” he said on an episode of the Sports Spectrum podcast. “So was there something I didn’t learn in my year in Cleveland or something I didn’t learn in my years in New York?”

Davis said that the popular Serenity Prayer helped him learn a new lesson. The prayer partially reads: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.”

Davis’ NFL career began with a stint with the New York Jets after the 2012 Draft. He played for the Browns before signing with the Saints in 2018.

As he gears up for another season with New Orleans, the linebacker is ready to point fans back to God.

“A light doesn’t just shine, it brightens the environment,” he posted on Instagram along with a photo of him walking across a football field.