How NY Giants WR Isaiah Hodgins Trusted God and Played Through Injury
By Movieguide® Contributor
New York Giants wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins shared how he played through an injury ‘only because of’ God.
Two days before the NFL wild-card game between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings, Hodgins sprained his ankle during the team’s walkthrough practice.
Soon the ankle turned black and blue and started to swell.
“I couldn’t even do a walkthrough, and then I had to get on a flight to Minnesota, and it got more swollen from the flight,” Hodgins said to Sports Spectrum. “… I felt like, ‘Dang, I’m going to let my team down.’”
Hodgins did everything he could to play in the wild-card game. He told God, “If I play this game, it’s only going to be because of You, and if I make it through this game, it’s only because of You.”
Sports Spectrum reported,
“Isaiah played in the game, just his sixth career start. And he introduced himself to the huge playoff-watching audience with a career performance: 105 receiving yards on eight catches, including a touchdown reception, all of which helped the sixth-seeded Giants score a 31-24 road victory over the third-seeded Vikings.”
He shared a picture of how badly his ankle was injured on his Instagram story after the game.
Isaiah Hodgins ankle pic.twitter.com/zdR91SkqYj
— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) January 16, 2023
Following the game, Hodgins said, “I just started to really sit there on the bench and be like, ‘God is really working right now,’” he expressed with gratitude. “‘He’s really bringing me through this. My foot is in serious pain, and I would not be able to do this without God.’”
He tweeted, “God brought me a long way man. Without him I wouldn’t even be playing today. Thankful to be apart of this team.”
God brought me a long way man. Without him I wouldn’t even be playing today. Thankful to be apart of this team🙏🏽
— Isaiah Hodgins (@IsaiahHodgins) January 16, 2023
Despite his amazing performance, Hodgins doesn’t want the praise. Instead, his goal is to tell people that it all comes from God.
“A reporter asked me after the game, ‘A couple of months ago you were on the practice squad and now you’re sitting here catching a hundred yards in a playoff game,’ and I’m just like, ‘That’s God,’” Hodgins admitted. “That’s just how quick He could work, His plan coming to fruition, and it’s nothing else. Obviously, I had to work hard and stay with it, but that’s just God and how He works and His plans for my life. So, it has been awesome to see it all unfold.”
James Hodgins, Isaiah’s father, also played in the NFL for seven years. He was a 1999 Super Bowl XXXIV winner with the St. Louis Rams. Despite Isaiah’s lack of confidence in himself, his father always knew he was capable.
“We were expecting God to eventually show up and there be a breakout season, we just didn’t know when,” James said.
“The reality is, for all of us at some point, your faith has to be your own, not your parents’,” James expressed with intentionality. “That was always our biggest thing to both of our sons and our daughters, that you have to take this faith journey with God yourself.”
That faith walk started for Isaiah after he was injured during a spring practice his freshman year at Oregon State.
“That was the time I started really taking my walk seriously,” he said. “Not just on Sundays, but throughout the week. I made it a goal that I’m going to be unashamed about this. I invited players to church. I was sitting there being outspoken about my faith and doing Bible studies throughout the week and stuff that was helping me grow.”
Hodgins continues to be vocal about his faith.
His Instagram bio declares, “For God’s Glory,” and he recently shared a post quoting Matthew 24:13.
CBS Sports reports that Hodgins joined the NFL in 2020 out of Oregon State.
“He entered the 2022 season with Buffalo, but was waived on Nov. 1. That’s when New York claimed him off waivers, reuniting him with Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who was his offensive coordinator with the Bills for the first two years of his career,” CBS Sports concluded.
Movieguide® previously reported on Hodgins:
New York Giants Wide Receiver Isaiah Hodgins had eight catches and a career high 105 receiving yards in his first-ever playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 15.
Before this, Hodgins had only two games under his belt where he had more than five catches and 50-receiving yards.
“It just means a lot, man,” Hodgins told reporters after the game. “First playoff game, to be able to go out there with my brothers and just execute like we did. Hard fought, four-quarter game, and we fought all the way to the end.”
The wildcard round win is the first playoff victory for the Giants since 2012, when they won the Super Bowl.
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