Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving Gets Baptized Hours Before Game: ‘God Is Real’
An NFL player baptized on Sunday, just hours before his home game, is the latest sign of a growing movement of professional football players publicly professing faith in Christ.
Tampa Bay starting running back Bucky Irving was baptized Sunday morning at a local church, the same day his team was set to face New Orleans at Raymond James Stadium.
A now-viral video shows Irving standing in baptismal waters, sharing his testimony before being submerged.
“I felt like I hit rock bottom in my life about two months ago, and God was the only person that I could lean on,” he told the audience.
Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter, Kansas City’s Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and Detroit’s Terrion Arnold also were baptized this fall.
Irving has been increasingly vocal about his faith. Irving’s 15-year-old brother was shot and killed in 2022 – a tragedy that Irving said impacted him deeply.
“I really tapped into [my faith] when my little brother got killed,” he said in an Instagram video posted this fall. “God has a different plan for each and every one of us, and we don't know what that story or that journey looks like, but just being able to carry [my brother’s] legacy with me each and every day, I know he's watching me, and I know he'll be very proud of me.”
Meanwhile, Irving said he’s trusting God to carry him.
“I never question anything that He has put me through [or] He's going to put me through, because only He knows the journey that He got me on,” Irving said. “As long as I just wake up every day, and before I even text anybody or get on my phone, I'm reading Scriptures. I'm thanking God for waking me up. It's a blessing, man, just being there to thank Him every day, each and every day.”
He lists Philippians 4:13 on his Instagram profile and urged fans in an October post to pursue faith in Jesus.
“We worry about the wrong things in life we need to come together as a community love one another and follow faith in Jesus name we all gotta come together,” he wrote. “... Can’t hide no more I gotta open up. I’ve been in this shell for too long. GOD is real.”
Irving was drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 draft out of Oregon.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images / Megan Briggs / Contributor
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published December 09, 2025.
