On Sunday, February 13, Super Bowl LVI will be held at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, pitting the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams, who will be playing at their home stadium.
According to Actionnetwork.com, the Rams are an early four-point favorite to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and based on the NFL playoffs so far, it promises to be a very entertaining and close game.
But according to evangelist Franklin Graham, all Christians (and by extension God and Jesus, too) will be rooting for the Bengals because their rookie placekicker is a devout man.
On Facebook, Graham laid out why he wants to see the Bengals emerge victorious:
A rookie is sending the Cincinnati Bengals to their first Super Bowl in 33 years! The Bengals were down 21-3 in the first half of last night’s game against The Kansas City Chiefs, but they came back for the win with a field goal in overtime! The rookie who made the game-winning kick is Evan McPherson. He’s just 22 years old, but Evan is the first kicker in NFL history to hold the record for having the most field goals without a miss in a single postseason. That’s impressive.
Yes, those stats are indeed impressive, but as Graham explains, he doesn’t like Evan McPherson because he’s a good kicker, but because he wears a shirt that proclaims his faith:
But what impresses me most about Evan is that he’s not ashamed of his faith. He’s a follower of Jesus Christ, and he wore a shirt that said “God is good” to the press conference after the game. On Instagram, Evan shared John 3:16 with the caption, “To God be the glory!!” He isn’t afraid to use his platform on social media to point to God and His Word.
Graham ends his post with this saccharine proclamation of who he wants to emerge as the winner on Feb. 13:
The Super Bowl is less than two weeks away, and the Bengals are being called one of the biggest underdogs to ever make it to the game. I know one kicker I’m going to be rooting for—how about you?
In other words, Graham is picking Cincinnati, but is he betting on the game? Probably not.
The larger question, however, is this: If the Rams win, does that mean Graham’s God isn’t real? Or does it merely suggest that the preacher isn’t exactly on good terms with the man upstairs? Either way, it’s putting God in a difficult spot.
Here’s a proposition for Mr. Graham: If the Bengals win, pledge to give $5 million of your money (from your personal account) to orphanages across the United States.
If, on the other hand, the Rams prevail, Franklin, fork over $10 million to Planned Parenthood.
Hey, if you have so much faith, shouldn’t you be willing to put your money where your mouth is?