As more NFL players talk openly about their spiritual beliefs, football and faith are no longer an unlikely pairing. Aiding that connection are 32 team chaplains, who often keep a low profile.
Last month, “TODAY” show correspondent Savannah Sellers interviewed Baltimore Ravens chaplain Johnny Shelton, one of the few full-time in-house NFL chaplains. A former pro player himself, Shelton now focuses on the spiritual development of players, coaches, and staff members.
The Work of Ravens Chaplain Johnny Shelton
Johnny Shelton admitted it’s a good thing chaplains aren’t famous “because you stay out of the way.” But although he isn’t well known, Shelton is always present. He’s on the sidelines during practices and games, available for players and team personnel who need prayers and words of wisdom.
Just before athletes take the field on game days, Shelton leads team prayer. “I pray for the safety [of players’] minds and [for] their hearts to be clear, to be able to focus on the task at hand,” he said. NFL chaplains also lead post-game prayer at midfield, a gathering known as Meet Me at the 50.
As the Ravens chaplain, Shelton also organizes Bible studies for players, coaches, and even their families. He also keeps an open door policy for counseling. Players seek Shelton’s wisdom about “football pressure, family pressure, relationship issues,” he said. “Life is hard enough. And at the flip side of that, football is hard enough. So when you put those two together…it’s crazy.”
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey told NBC’s Sellers that during chats with the chaplain, “Football comes up occasionally, but it’s mainly just life…Even sometimes when it’s football, it’s more so just how could you have more of a leadership role.”
Anthony Weaver, a former Ravens player who’s now an assistant coach for the team, said NFL players tend to “assume we’re alphas [who] can solve and figure out everything.” So “it’s not natural to turn to somebody for help and for guidance.” Shelton, however, “makes that easy,” according to Weaver.
NFL Chaplain Seeks To Honor Jesus
When Sellers asked Shelton if his door is open to players of any faith, he said, “Oh, absolutely. I’m here to love all.” He acknowledged, “We’re not going to disciple everybody. We’re here to love them.”
Shelton said he values the bond he has with fellow league chaplains, who meet monthly on Zoom. “Those are my guys,” he said. “We’re able to lean on” each other.
On his website bio, Shelton describes having a rough upbringing, without a father in the picture. Two consistent factors in his life, however, were sports and church. By his junior year at Southeast Missouri State University, Shelton made Jesus the Lord of his life, rather than merely “living on his mother’s salvation.”
A Scripture passage that convinced Johnny Shelton to read the Bible more is 2 Timothy 4:1-2, where Paul urges Christians to “be ready in season and out of season.”
An undrafted free agent, Shelton played for three NFL teams, then worked in corporate America for a decade. After entering full-time ministry, he became the Fellowship of Christian Athletes football chaplain at Virginia Tech in 2007, two weeks before a campus shooting there.
Shelton has been with the Ravens since July 2013. “I enjoy being able to share the love of Christ with [players],” he said, “and also being able to look them in the eye and tell them what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear.”
The chaplain could have a busy next few weeks, now that the Ravens have won their division and secured the top AFC seed for the upcoming playoffs.
