Answer: Maybe
Disclaimer: It is not our role to determine whether or not somebody is a Christian. We just use our discernment based on the evidence we have found on the internet to come to a likely or best-guess answer. Our answers do not actually determine who is or is not a Christian and it is ultimately between the person and God. Not us.
Matthew Stafford has been in the spotlight since his high school days. The American football quarterback for the Angeles Rams of the National Football League(NFL) started his career in his second year at Highland Park High School, where he was one of the best high school quarterbacks in the US.
Stafford had a perfect start to his career and till today remains one of the best American quarterbacks, having received a significant number of awards and recognitions. He is a Superbowl Champion, 2011 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and 2014 Pro Bowl Champion among others.
The 35-year-old got married to Kelly Hall in 2015 and they are blessed with four daughters. Stafford has revealed that he is a very private person. The quarterback currently does not own a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. He completely shunned social media with his rise to fame, even though he is still watched on TV when he plays. Stafford prefers to be a private person and some of the things known and heard about the athlete are usually from his wife who is very active on social media.
Matthew Stafford has been rumored to be a Christian and has been seen occasionally reading religious books which prompt people to question his religious beliefs. This article seeks to answer the question: Is Matthew Stafford a Christian?
Is Matthew Stafford Religious?
Religion according to Dictionary.com is a specific set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by several persons or sects. Based on this definition, a religious person is someone that intentionally and publicly upholds the beliefs and practices peculiar to a specific religious group.
As already highlighted, Stafford is intensely private and does not say so much about his personal life. The quarterback does not even have social media accounts where people can get to know more about his personal life and activities.
After Stafford’s wife Kelly underwent brain surgery in 2019 to remove a brain tumor, the athlete made one of his few public statements which could suggest he holds some religious beliefs. According to him:
“I think she’s kind of right where the doctors want her to be at this point in her recovery, but we appreciate everybody’s well wishes, thoughts, prayers, all that. People have been supportive and I know she and I both appreciate it.”
Though Matthew Stafford has not publicly mentioned if he has affiliations with any religious group or not, few reports have revealed that Angeles Rams’ quarterback was raised in a Christian family from Tampa, Florida and this could mean that he holds some religious beliefs.
Does Matthew Stafford believe in God?
Matthew Stafford is a thoughtful and intelligent individual that has opinions about a lot of things. However, there is every possibility that the quarterback has not made public religious comments.
Allen Park reported in 2016 through ESPN that Matthew reads a lot of books on religion to broaden his knowledge and shape his point of view.
While talking to ESPN, Stafford described how people believe in one thing while ignoring others, which could be why he reads in-depth to know different things. In his words:
“I think a lot of people in this world live in a vacuum. They believe one thing and then only listen to only that one thing and don’t listen to anything else,”
This could mean that Matthew Stafford believes in different things and is open to different views, but since the quarterback has not confirmed he believes in God, we can’t conclude. However, his wife’s social media posts and statements suggest the couple could believe in God.
While gushing about their love on their 3rd wedding anniversary, Stafford’s wife, Kelly stated:
“I believe God placed us at the University of Georgia. You could have gone anywhere to school but you picked there and it was a reach for me to get in, but by some miracle I did. He wanted us to meet and see where it took us. Now, look. over 10 years later and today, 3 years of marriage, and still, each day, you remind me why you are so easy to love. Thank you for picking me to do life with. Happy anniversary!”
After her surgery in 2019, Kelly posted on her Instagram:
“I honestly don’t know where to start, this is him, the man God chose to remove my brain tumor. After my diagnosis, Matthew and I visited doctors all over the U.S. He made it a super easy decision after we met Dr. Thompson at the U of M hospital. Dr Thompson not only had done 2000 acoustic neuroma cases and had published outstanding results when attempting to preserve facial and hearing function with the surgery but when I spoke with him, he reminded me of my dad……”
In another Instagram post, Stafford’s wife Kelly stated ” This Easter is the beginning of a new life for me. I wanna take a second to thank you all for the prayers. They have worked, I know they have. I had an abnormal vein, maybe abnormal for other neurosurgeons but not the one we chose. He had seen it before and written a paper on it. That’s truly God’s work. The prayers for my family, I’m beyond thankful for.”
The comments above show some affiliations with religion and possible belief in God.
Is Matthew Stafford a Christian?
Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world, where devotees are followers of Jesus Christ and believe in God his Father and other structures of the religion.
The Holy Bible highlights the characteristics of a true Christian to be; someone who has faith in God (Hebrew 11:6), responds to God’s calling, leads a holy lifestyle (Acts 2:38), is filled with the holy spirit (Romans 8:9), imitates the lifestyle of Jesus Christ (1st Corinthians 11:1), Worships only one God (Exodus 20:3), believes in the holy trinity (1st John 5:7), and is not ashamed to proclaim the Gospel to the world (Mark 16:15). Put simply, a true Christian is a person who has put faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His work.
Few reports have stated that Stafford was born and raised in a Christian home, but the quarterback has not made any comment on this. His wife has however made public posts and ambiguous comments that could suggest the couple are Christians. However, since it has not been clearly stated, we cannot conclude if Matthew Stafford is a Christian or not.
As someone who values privacy, Stafford has not said anything about his religious stance, he has not been seen in public Christian gatherings and has only admitted to reading books that are kind of religious and will help him understand different religions and perspectives of life.
Is Matthew Stafford Baptized?
There have been reports that Matthew Stafford was born into a Christian home and unconfirmed statements that he is a Christian. Since the quarterback hasn’t spoken about being baptized and there is no public information about his baptism, we do not know if Stafford is baptized or not.
What did Matthew Stafford say about Jesus Christ?
Despite being in the spotlight for a long time, Matthew Stafford has always preferred a private life. However, his privacy hasn’t remained so private because of his social status. The quarterback tries to live as anonymously as possible but his football career has not granted him this opportunity.
In 2016, Stafford revealed to ESPN: “I like having privacy, I like having a personal life.” Stafford is cordial and usually holds a few discussions with some fans but he does not share so much about his personal life for reasons best known to him.
The group of people Stafford categorizes as his close circle, consisting of his wife, a few high school and college friends, and his teammates are the few that can say a little about Stafford because left for him, people will not know most things about his personal life. Some of his friends revealed that he loves to live and be regarded as every normal person.
Matthew Stafford is not known to make public religious or even political comments. We’ve not found any statement by the athlete about Jesus Christ, God, or Christianity.
Final Thoughts
Though Matthew Stafford has been in the spotlight since his second year in high school as one of the best players on his school’s football team and one of the best high school recruits in the NFL, not much is known about the American quarterback who has opted to live a private life. He loves reading in-depth and sharing knowledge with people but chooses to keep his personal life within his small circle of friends and family.
The athlete had deactivated his social media accounts and is currently not active on any social media platform as compared to his wife who is a very active social media user.
In 2016, while sharing some thoughts on politics and beliefs with ESPN, he immediately regretted and said “I don’t even like that I just told you that.”
Matthew Stafford is very private with his personal life. He has not publicly declared if he is a Christian or not, and has not publicly shown affiliations with Christianity or any religious group. He might be a Christian, but it is not in our jurisdiction to decide and this is strictly between him and God.
Think we were wrong? Write your reasoning in the comments and prove us wrong!