As the NFL’s regular season games wrapped up, NBC caught flack for editing out Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud’s comments about his faith in Jesus, but Stroud says he isn’t holding any grudges.
The controversy began on Jan. 13 when Stroud thanked Jesus for his blessings in a post-game interview on the field. “First of all, I just want to give all glory and praise to my lord and savior, Jesus Christ,” Stroud told NBC’s Kathryn Tappen after the game.
However, the video clip was a bit shorter when the interview was added to social media. Suddenly, the one-second segment thanking Jesus was no longer part of the interview.
X user NFLTrenchBattle posted a side-by-side of the two clips, writing: “NBC Sports is going viral for editing QB CJ Stroud’s interview, which purposely cuts out him thanking Jesus Christ.”
REPORT: @NBCSports is going viral for editing QB CJ Stroud's interview, which purposely cuts out him thanking Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/ElNoeAumbU
— NFLCentral (@NFLTrenchBattle) January 17, 2024
Now, in a new interview with Fox News, Stroud says that he is not holding a grudge about the censorship.
‘SHINE A LIGHT’: Star quarterback @CJ7STROUD is standing tall after NBC News edited his love for Jesus Christ out of a post. When asked about the controversy, he said, “I just really want to show love and show people what I stand for.” https://t.co/Knf1bhvfwI pic.twitter.com/j0VyaR9qQ9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 30, 2024
“I love everybody. Christ has called us to love one another and just shine a light,” Stroud said. “That comes from Him. I really just really want to show that love and just really want people to experience my experience with finding Christ for you all and having that relationship with Him.”
“I just really want to show love and show people what I stand for. I pray for everybody, and I don’t really have any feeling toward it. I just pray for everyone,” he added.
Stroud has been very open about his Christian faith and always prefaces his sports comments by thanking Jesus for the blessings of being able to perform at NFL-level athletics.
He is also glad to see other players expressing their faith as well.
“I feel like, of course, football is amazing, but one day this sport will be done,” Stroud said. “This is our passion, but I think our purposes are bigger than just football, and it’s cool to see people use their platform to show their purpose in the Lord.”
“So, I think we have a really good community of a lot of believers in the league and really around the sports world. I think the more we can do with our platform, the better we can make this world and hopefully really help people if they want the help to find Christ and really understand that God loves you no matter what. That’s really the light I feel like we’re tying to shine.”
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