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Men of faith: Top draft picks show what carries them off the field · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Men of faith. Top draft picks show what carries them
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  off the field. Written by Kevin Hieronimus. This article is
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  being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlet.
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  The top picks of last week's NFL Draft were all
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  taken for their immeasurable talents on the football field. One
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  by one, many of those young men showed what's carried
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  them off the field, expressing their faith on center stage
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  and giving thanks to Christ. Here's a small sample from
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  the first round draft picks sharing their faith. Fernando Mendoza,
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  the number one overall pick of the Raiders. These last
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  few months have been such a blessing by God, and
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  I can't thank him enough. Jordan Tyson, taken at number
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  eight by the Saints. I was so lost in the
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  things of the world and living life trying to make
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  it through. But Jesus had his hand on me the
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  whole time. I didn't give all the credit to him
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  at first, but now I do. Caleb Downs taking at
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  number eleven by the Cowboys. I want to say thank
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  you God. Without that, none of us would be here.
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  At the end of the day. His glory isn't about
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  anything that we can do. But we know Jesus is real,
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  and we know that if you believe in him, you
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  will be saved. Ty Simpson, drafted at number thirteen by
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  the Rams. I just want to give all the glory
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  to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The fact that
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  I'm here on the NFL stage of the draft, I
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  wouldn't be here. Mackay Lemon, taken at number twenty by
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  the Eagles. I ain't gonna lie. I'm just so blessed
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  right now. I just praise the Lord for every moment. Really,
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  and Taylan Green, the Brown's sixth round pick, who lists
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  Philippians four thirteen in his ex profile, said all praise
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  to Jesus because I wouldn't be here standing today without him.
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  As a man of faith. It was refreshing to see
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  these young men make these bold testimonies. If you listen
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  closely at Big League ballparks, you can also hear MLB
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  players express their faith with their walk up songs. As
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  I'm writing this, I'm listening to Pirate's rookie hot shot
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  Caan Griffin walk up to nobody by Casting Crown's Matthew West.
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  When I was in Saint Louis last week, a familiar
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  gospel tune played as Cardinal's rookie Nathan Church, who has
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  chosen graves into gardens by elevation worship, came to bat.
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  I was hoping to ask Nathan about it, but didn't
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  get the opportunity. In the clubhouse. Caleb Downs, who was
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  one of many Ohio state players to be baptized last fall,
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  picked C. C Wynnan's King of Glory for his walkout
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  music at the draft. I've always admired athletes like Tim Tebow,
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  Kurt Warner, Clayton Kershaw, and Alison Felix for boldly expressing
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  their faith over the years at the local high school level.
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  I appreciated how Princeton senior basketball standout Cameron Driscoll used
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  her faith this year to witness to others when she
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  sustained a season ending knee injury. Many years ago, I
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  asked former Saint Louis Cardinals star second baseman Tommy Hare
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  for a story for The Redbird Review, the original Cardinals magazine,
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  about why he added the well known John three p.
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  Sixteen scripture to his autograph. He told me, if just
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  one person looks that verse up, that's all that mattered.
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  These athletes all have a platform and boldly use it.
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  Kevin Hieronimus has been the BCR Sports editor since nineteen
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  eighty six. Contact him at Kironomus at bcrnews dot com.