In the early summer of 2023, three softball players from the University of Oklahoma sat in a postgame news conference after helping the Sooners win their third straight national championship. A reporter from ESPN asked them about maintaining their joy throughout a long season spent trying to live up to the program’s lofty expectations.
You might remember it; their answers went viral on social media.
“The only way that you can have a joy that doesn’t fade away is from the Lord,” Sooners team captain Grace Lyons said. “Any other type of joy is actually happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes. Joy from the Lord is really the only thing that can keep you motivated,” she added.
Her teammate, Alyssa Brito, echoed the sentiment: “We’re really fixing our eyes on Christ … you can’t find a fulfillment in an outcome, whether it’s good or bad. We have an eternity of joy with our Father, and I’m so excited about that. Yes, I live in the moment, but I know this isn’t my home, and no matter what, my sisters in Christ will be there with me in the end when we’re with our King.”
For those who follow sports — and especially for those who also follow Christ — it was stunning to hear these young, successful athletes articulate their faith in such a confident manner. To be that clear about what matters most — who matters most — minutes after the biggest win of their lives was inspiring because it was genuine.
Critics, of course, claimed that it’s easy to praise the Lord when you’re at the top of the mountain, but what would the Sooners say when they stumbled down it? It took a few years to find out, as Oklahoma fell short of claiming a fifth consecutive national title in this year’s Women’s College World Series.
But while the result was different, their tune was not.
Asked about their emotional state during the season-ending loss to Texas Tech this past June, pitcher Sam Landry said, “I think it’s hard to get sad in the middle of a game when you know God already wrote the story. So, just relying on him, we knew it was going to turn out exactly how he wanted.”
No tears, no sulking, just a profound collective wisdom that understands that true victory comes from the Lord and not from the numbers on a scoreboard.
Unabashed and unashamed
And the Oklahoma softball team isn’t alone. Over the past several years, it seems more high-profile college athletes are growing comfortable sharing their faith publicly and boldly.
Nowhere was that more evident than in last season’s College Football Playoff national championship game, where Ohio State beat Notre Dame in Atlanta on Jan. 22 to claim the Buckeyes’ ninth national title. Throughout the season, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and quarterback Riley Leonard were outspoken about the importance of faith in the team’s locker room. That might be expected coming from a university named after Our Lady. However, if any team in the country had more public and prolific displays of faith than Notre Dame, it was Ohio State.
In August 2024, Ohio State football players led a Christian revival on campus that drew an estimated 1,000 people and culminated in more than 50 people being baptized.
After the revival, Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, who has been candid about his Christian faith, said, “You know, there are times where people don’t want to hear about him. But, you know, God calls us to hear his word whether the time is favorable or whether it’s not.”
Immediately after scoring a touchdown to cap the game’s opening drive, Notre Dame’s Leonard found a TV camera in the back of the end zone and pointed to his wristband, which read “Matthew 23:12.” The verse says, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
In the postgame news conference, Leonard didn’t shy away from speaking about his faith, saying: “Like I said throughout the week, (Notre Dame) and Ohio State were the two teams who praised Jesus Christ the most, and I think that we strengthened each other in our faiths through coming to this game and competing against each other. I’m happy to see godly men come out on top, no matter what the circumstances. I’m very happy to praise Jesus in the lowest of lows, as well.”
On the sideline immediately following the game, Henderson was asked what the championship meant to him. Unsurprisingly, and unprompted, he directed his thoughts and his gaze upward.
“It feels good,” he said, “but God is so much greater.”
Henderson’s wisdom echoes the words of St. Paul, who wrote: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tm 4:7-8).
Each of us can learn a lesson from these young men and women who are unafraid to boldly proclaim the goodness of Christ — namely, that the crown of God’s glory outshines any trophy we could win on earth.
