New England Patriots All-Pro special teams player Matthew Slater—whose father, Jackie, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer—boldly professed Christ during four days of interviews prior to Super Bowl LI. He demonstrated his faith last fall by forming a “Matthew vs. Matthew” fund-raiser to support Samaritan’s Purse’s disaster relief efforts for Hurricane Matthew victims. Here’s a sampling of what Slater told reporters covering the Super Bowl:

• “Everything I do, I do for an audience of One.”
• “I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without Jesus in my life. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that He’s shown me, and what He’s done in my life. It’s nothing short of a miracle that He’s allowed me this platform and this opportunity. So I feel an obligation—at the very least—to tell people the reason that Matthew Slater is up here doing this is because of Jesus Christ.
• I wouldn’t rest well in my soul if I didn’t do that.”
• “For anybody who’s [willing] to listen and sometimes to people who aren’t, I want to make sure that I give the glory to God [so] people understand I’m not a self-made man.”
• “I don’t put all my eggs into the football basket. Football’s a temporary game, and I hope (others) see a guy who’s got an eternal perspective beyond the game.”
• “We serve a perfect God who cannot associate with sin, [but] that gap has been bridged by what Christ did on Calvary. … It’s something I’m putting 100 percent of my hope and trust in. It’s as simple as that to me.”