Super Bowl LI will long be remembered for the greatest comeback in NFL history pulled off by the New England Patriots who came from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Patriots, 34-28, in overtime on Sunday at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
On the spiritual level, this year's Super Bowl will also be well remembered for seeing two competing teams whose players, at least five of them, agree on one thing: their intense love for the Bible, according to Faithwire.
On Friday, the developers of the YouVersion Bible app released a video showing three players from the Patriots and two players from the Falcons explaining the importance of the Gospel in their lives.
For the Patriots, free safety Devin McCourty says the Bible app helps keep him focused each day. "The YouVersion Bible app helps me sustain my focus every day, whether it's a year devotional or 30-day devotional ... There's nothing better. When I wake up in the morning I just grab my phone, log on to the app and I could read them before I get out of bed," he says.
His teammate, wide receiver Matthew Slater, says pretty much the same thing, noting that the Bible app allows him to keep his focus in the right place.
"Instead of just reading aimlessly at times, (I am) able to use their plans at different seasons of my life when I need them," he says. "Whether it's something on parenting or something on marriage ... just to have that organisation as I do my studies, it's really been great. It's really been helpful for my wife and I."
Defensive back Jordan Richards, also of the Patriots, says the YouVersion Bible app helps him access the verse quickly. It's particularly useful, he says, "when I meet up with somebody and we just talk about the Word and all of a sudden a verse hits us and we gotta find it someplace to get more context."
For the Falcons, fullback Patrick DiMarco says he reads the Bible every day, and uses the YouVersion app to help keep himself on a spiritual track.
"I have a reminder that goes off at 6:30 — boom," he says. "It's just a really unique way to really dig into the Word."
His teammate Josh Harris says the Bible app helps people find the inspiration they need to get through life's troubles.
"It's just easy to plug a phone and pull up that app, just find the inspiration you need or whatever struggle you're going through. I mean you got everything you need right there," he says.
Of course, people know the biggest Bible endorser in sports: former NFL star Tim Tebow.
When he was still playing with the Florida Gators, Tebow recalled how he would write Bible verses on the black patches under his eyes. He first wrote Philippians 4:13 — "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."
Tebow later changed the verse to John 3:16—"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
During the 2009 BCS Championship game, when his team beat Oklahoma, people became so curious as to what verse he wrote on his eye patches that 94 million people reportedly looked it up on Google while the game was progressing.
