It’s dire times like these that led one of the NFL’s biggest stars to turn to the most powerful weapon we have: prayer.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins has his team at 5-1 and first place in the AFC East division. On Sunday, he had 262 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 42-21 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Tagovailoa had plenty to talk about during the postgame news conference, including a 41-yard touchdown pass to speedster Tyreek Hill. As he was talking about that, however, he veered to weightier subjects — specifically, Israel and Ukraine.
The game came one week after Hamas launched its bloody attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to bloodshed and heartbreak on an unimaginable scale. That bloodshed and heartbreak has been going on for a year-and-a-half now in Ukraine after the Russians launched an invasion that has led to a gruesome stalemate.
“I kind of want to also just bring to the attention — I didn’t really realize how bad things were in Israel, and just wanted to bring to attention for those who don’t necessarily understand things that are going on, that it really is bad, and if you don’t understand, if you go on Google, you look, you search and you read about what’s going on in this world,” Tagovailoa said.
“This world needs prayer,” he said.
After answering just one question, #Dolphins QB Tua paused his postgame press conference to discuss the difficult situation in Israel and bring attention to all the terrorist attacks by Hamas.
“I didn’t really realize how bad things were in Israel…”
(via @MiamiDolphins) pic.twitter.com/M13rad8Xzu
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 15, 2023
“I don’t know what we’ve come to, but you know, just my thoughts, my prayers are out with those people in Israel,” he continued.
“I know the Ukraine and Russia war is still going on as well, and just wanted to bring notice that although we have the freedom to do this here, play football and be able to have the freedom to do these things, that to come back into reality and think that’s where we all are here in this world. So just want to bring that to the attention.”
He added that “hopefully, we all come together and can pray for the kids, the children, the wives, the women and the men that are putting themselves out there every day for those unfortunate events that are happening right now.”
That’s a very hopeful note, of course, when certain corners of the left have uncritically stood up for Hamas, a terrorist organization, in its war against the Jewish state.
However, there’s only one entity that can truly change hearts: God.
We turn to very human arguments to try to get our point across, but it’s ultimately the Almighty who is in control — and the most powerful thing we can do to take control of a turbulent world is to seek him, his mercy and his justice.
So powerful is this mercy and justice that, as some on social media noted, even mentioning prayer is an invitation to be “canceled.”
One of the few that have the courage
— Cute Alessia (@QtAlessia) October 16, 2023
He’s about to be canceled – unfortunately.
— ?That4LeafClover? (@That4LeafClover) October 16, 2023
That said, it’s hard to see Tua Tagovailoa caring; the former University of Alabama standout has been outspoken about his faith both in victory and defeat.
“I think the best thing about being a believer of Jesus Christ, to me, is that the good Lord up above doesn’t care whether you win a game, whether you lose a game,” Tagovailoa said earlier this month after the Dolphins suffered their first loss of the season to the Buffalo Bills, according to AL.com.
“For me, it’s been a little tough having to play on Sundays, having to understand that I’m not able to go to church,” he said. “Really, a lot of it is having to watch church online after games and things like that.
“But allowing me this platform, to me, is the thing in the world to be able to profess my faith on something that I firmly believe in, something that’s been foundationally instilled in me at a young age.”
Yes, you may discount him as just another well-remunerated athlete professing his faith, but his priorities are unassailable: What the world needs right now is prayer. And no matter how big or small your platform may be, it’s the responsibility of the believer to share that most urgent of messages.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
