Football Football and Religion

**Rain Man** · 11-28-2009, 12:49 PM

A Reggie White discussion on another thread got me thinking about football and religion. I could be wrong, but it seems like football has a disproportional number of very religious people. Kurt Warner springs to mind, but you also have your Reggie Whites and Rod Woodsons and your Chiefs kickers pointing to the sky after every kick and lots and lots of players who are pretty sure that Jesus follows their team even when there's a local blackout.

So it got me wondering. Are any or all of the following true?

Theory 1. Religious Amplification. Players who reach the NFL have to realize that they've achieved the American Dream. Many of them are from more humble backgrounds or at least no greater than middle class. Do some of these players come to believe that there had to be a greater power or destiny involved in achieving great prosperity, which either amplified their religious beliefs or perhaps creates religious beliefs that may not have been there if they hadn't become successful?

Theory 2. Religious Power. Players who reach the NFL must have enormous talent, but also enormous drive and faith in their ability. Are players with stronger religious beliefs more likely to achieve this success because they have religion as a support structure?

Theory 3. Religious Demographics. Players who reach the NFL happen to come from families where religion is more common and more open for discussion. Southern players, African American players, etc. (I don't know if religion is more common and open among southerners and African Americans in my example. I just have that perception, and others can correct me or expound.)

Theory 4. Flawed Observation. Theory 4 is that I'm wrong in my initial observation, and NFL players are not disproportionately religious.

What do you think? I don't think these theories are independent of each other, so more than one could be true. Or there could be something else I'm not recognizing.

View Poll Results: Football and Religion: A two-part question.
****Part 1. General Agreement/Disagreement (Check all that apply.)	1	5.88%
I agree with Theory 1.	3	17.65%
I agree with Theory 2.	1	5.88%
I agree with Theory 3.	4	23.53%
I agree with Theory 4.	7	41.18%
None of the above theories holds water.	1	5.88%
I'd like to propose another theory, which I'll call Theory 5.	2	11.76%
****Part 2. The theory I MOST agree with is... (Check ONLY one.)	1	5.88%
Theory 1.	2	11.76%
Theory 2.	2	11.76%
Theory 3.	3	17.65%
Theory 4.	7	41.18%
My own Theory 5.	3	17.65%
I disagree with everything. Everything	3	17.65%
I plan to write a long and obscure discourse on religion in this thread.	2	11.76%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 17. You may not vote on this poll

11-28-2009, 12:49 PM	Topic Starter
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-672449 VARSITY	Football and Religion A Reggie White discussion on another thread got me thinking about football and religion. I could be wrong, but it seems like football has a disproportional number of very religious people. Kurt Warner springs to mind, but you also have your Reggie Whites and Rod Woodsons and your Chiefs kickers pointing to the sky after every kick and lots and lots of players who are pretty sure that Jesus follows their team even when there's a local blackout. So it got me wondering. Are any or all of the following true? Theory 1. Religious Amplification. Players who reach the NFL have to realize that they've achieved the American Dream. Many of them are from more humble backgrounds or at least no greater than middle class. Do some of these players come to believe that there had to be a greater power or destiny involved in achieving great prosperity, which either amplified their religious beliefs or perhaps creates religious beliefs that may not have been there if they hadn't become successful? Theory 2. Religious Power. Players who reach the NFL must have enormous talent, but also enormous drive and faith in their ability. Are players with stronger religious beliefs more likely to achieve this success because they have religion as a support structure? Theory 3. Religious Demographics. Players who reach the NFL happen to come from families where religion is more common and more open for discussion. Southern players, African American players, etc. (I don't know if religion is more common and open among southerners and African Americans in my example. I just have that perception, and others can correct me or expound.) Theory 4. Flawed Observation. Theory 4 is that I'm wrong in my initial observation, and NFL players are not disproportionately religious. What do you think? I don't think these theories are independent of each other, so more than one could be true. Or there could be something else I'm not recognizing.
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