Landry Jones was an influential quarterback when he was in high school. He had many successes and everyone wanted to be like him. As the athletic male, he led his team to state championships while being named New Mexico’s Class 4A Player of the Year. During this time, he thought he had everything he needed in life. Entering Oklahoma University, everything changed. In his first year, he was stripped of his football identity and broken down. Although he got the opportunity to play football, he was never prioritized by the coach. He started thinking that Satan’s lies became truths and he was worthless. This led to him falling into depression and trying to put others down to make himself feel good. He fell into the habit of consuming alcohol while getting with as many girls as he could. He soon realized that alcohol and girls were not the solution to this void in his heart. Growing up in a Christian home, he soon realized that God was teaching him a lesson. From the most popular guy in school to a nobody, he saw what God wanted for him – using his athletic abilities to please and glorify Him.

Relating this back to the course, Landry Jones mastered the wuwei when he was in high school. I say this because he could effortlessly take on life and all the good things came to him. He could go to games and be prioritized while having the most play time. Jones had discovered what it was like to embrace what was around him and adjust to any changes. Once he thought he got everything pat down, he fell into a ditch of darkness – leading him to disappointment and depression. During this time, he had to be aware of the contradictions of life and not compare himself to others. As he slowly got reminded of Christianity, he got back on his feet and played football in a positive manner. 

Being a NASCAR Driver comes with many challenges such as quick decision making and being fearless behind the wheel. In this story, we see 7 NASCAR drivers (Trevor Bayne, Michael McDowell, Black Koch, David Starr, Justin Allgiaer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Darrell Waltrip) speaking about their experiences with God and how they have been exposed to Christianity on and off the racetrack. Since each driver started racing at a young age, they have been engulfed in the mentality of winning races. Their whole life was surrounded by race cars and being on the race track. As time slowly crept by, each driver realized their distance with God and they reconnected to God through friends and family. That one encounter of God has opened their eyes to ‘fixing’ their personality and rekindling their relationship. Their mentality is now to accept Christ into their lives and practice this everyday. They have small groups that force them to be open about their faith and causes them to pray before races/practices.

In their testimonies, they spoke about how they get into the zone and focus on racing. This reminded me of flow and how you forget about everything and are so focused on the prize that you don’t realize the things that you’re doing. They have an autotelic experience from racing and driving fast while balancing the control of their bodies and the control of the car. Each driver has their own experience but we can see that they all begin to get into the zone even before stepping foot into the cars. The are totally focused on racing at their best potential while forgetting about any other emotions such as fear and anxiety. 

Christian Hosoi – a professional skateboarder was one of the youngest and best of his kind. Starting at the age of 7, everyone love him and the skateboarding community accepted him as one of their own. Throughout the beginning of his career, he was influenced by older peers and idols. He started smoking week at the age of 10, doing acid at 12, and around the age of 13 he was doing cocaine. As a young boy in Hollywood, he sought for love through money, fame, skateboarding and girls. He then realized that none of these earthly things could fill the void in his heart. Hosoi soon got arrested for possession of narcotics and was put in jail for 10 years. During this time, he realized that continuing this path of rebellion would not get him anywhere. This was when his girlfriend had convinced him to pick up a Bible and start to read it. Soon after, he gave his life to Christ over the phone in a jail cell and is now an associate pastor at The Sanctuary in Huntington Beach, California.

Throughout Christian Hosoi’s life, he started as a rebel but realized his potential to love other people. He realized that the body is frail and the only thing that will last forever is his soul. The past is the past and the self as the sinful self, incurvatus in se – meaning that we cannot ‘work off’ this burden. Similar to the case study of Christianity that we studied, Hosoi believes that the divine is present in this world and we must have spiritual ‘discipline’ while on earth. This is why he claims to be ‘second.’ 

Colt McCoy is the Quarterback for the Washington Redskins competing in the NFL. At the time of this video, he was at the University of Texas competing in the College series. Being a Christian athlete can be tough sometimes - that is why Colt constantly reminds himself that he plays for God and not for himself/man. His shows his love for God through volunteering and engaging in missionary work in his community. Despite his shortcomings, McCoy wants to be remembered as the person who brings people to Christ and not to be defined by his statistics.

Part of Colt's works is being able to socially connect to the community (taken from Ninian Smart's "Dimensions" of Religion). McCoy seeks to create a more welcoming and loving environment for his teammates and the people around him. He also practices the Ethical part of religion in a sense that he plays to please God while keeping in mind the bigger picture of life - going to Heaven. He realized his potential and his ability to evangelize through that.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, also known as Kaká, is a Brazilian professional soccer player. He was known to be one of the best soccer players in the world when he started his career at the age of 15 with the São Paulo Football Club. Kaká has struggled with multiple physical problems including a problem with his pubis bone and his left knee - resulting in surgery. Through his recovery time, he realized that there is more to the sport of soccer. He engaged in a Christian lifestyle and is now very open to his faith. He applies his faith by wearing several T-shirts that have messages such as "Jesus Loves You" and "I Belong to Jesus."