Speaking after his team, the Baltimore Ravens, bested the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round, Coach John Harbaugh spoke out about his faith in God. Doing so, Coach Harbaugh told reporters that he was giving all the glory from the recent win to God, whom he described as being “the head and the ruler over everything.”
That came on Saturday, January 20th, when Coach Harbaugh was giving the press conference after the Ravens’ win in the big playoff game. That win sent Harbaugh’s Ravens to their first AFC Championship in 11 years long years, and it is the first AFC Championship for the Ravens to be hosted in their Baltimore home since 1970.
Coach Harbaugh made his comments about God when he kicked the presser off with a Bible verse, 1 Chronicles 29:11. Tweeting about the matter, OutKick NFL insider Armando Salguero commented, “Ravens coach John Harbaugh opens postgame presser with a Bible verse.” Then, after posting the verse, Salguero said, “Don’t imagine you’ll see the quote in a lot of places.”
In the press conference, Harbaugh introduced the verse and why he was speaking about God at the presser, Harbaugh said, “Here I just want to start off with this miss something that was sent to me before the game. It just is meaningful to me. So I’m going to share it with you. Because I think it’s the right thing to do. And it’s a verse.”
Then quoting the verse, Harbaugh said, “Greatness, power, glory, victory and honor belong to you, because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you the kingdom belongs to you Lord, you are the head and the ruler over everything.” Concluding that part and again explaining why he was reading from the Bible, Harbaugh said, “Just wanted to give honor and glory where it’s due.”
Coach Harbaugh is a faithful Roman Catholic, and has been known as a Christian for many years now, as his faith has been lifelong and was reported on since 2008, so his publically expressing his faith is not particularly surprising. However, it did still warm many hearts, as Christians were excited to see their faith recognized in such a public way.
Watch Coach Harbaugh here:
Speaking about his life in the Catholic Church as a young boy during a 2008 interview, Coach Harbaugh, who served as an altar boy who rang the bells at Mass, said, “Accountability was a big part of it.” Continuing, he said, “They made you be courteous and respectful and not be judgmental of others. To understand right from wrong was the biggest thing.”
His brother Jim Harbaugh, who recently appeared at the DC March for Life, at the time told the Catholic Review for the same interview article, “His relationship with God is the thing he leans on whenever he has tough times.” Continuing, Jim Harbaugh said, “When he didn’t get a job, he would say, ‘God has a different plan for me.’”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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