C.J. Stroud responds after NBC removes his Jesus praise from interview clip
Houston Texans' quarterback C.J. Stroud has responded publicly after NBC received criticism for editing out his mention of Jesus Christ in a post-game interview promoted on social media following his team's playoff win last month.
Stroud, who became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game in the NFL on Jan. 13 and is a leading candidate for NFL Rookie of the Year, gave "all glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" in his beginning remarks of a post-game interview on NBC following the Texans' victory over the Cleveland Browns.
However, the network noticeably edited out the 22-year-old's mention of Jesus in a clip of his interview that was posted on NBC's Sunday Night in America account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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CJ Stroud is an amazing quarterback and a devout Christian.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 18, 2024
But NBC is so afraid of him mentioning the name of Jesus Christ on air that they edited his post-game interview.
Whoever is responsible for this should be fired. pic.twitter.com/S3qrlzlce2
"I'm not angry about it," the Texans quarterback said during a recent interview with Complex.
"I wish that it wasn't that, but, you know, I pray for people, and I think God has called us to love one another through thick and thin, mistakes or success," Stroud continued.
"I just want to show love. We're not all perfect as people, even myself. I follow the Lord, but I'm not perfect, and I try to just be that light in a dark time."
Stroud said although there is "darkness in the world," God calls on his followers "to be a light to one another and just show love."
"I Just pray for people and I don't have any ill will or anger to that. I wish that it wasn't that, but, I'm just being myself always," he said.
Raised in Southern California, Stroud said he grew up in the Church and "found Christ in myself."
"I'm just trying to get better, and I just want people to feel the love that I felt from God," Stroud said. "So I don't feel any ill will about it; it's all love."
Even with Stroud's prayerful approach, one former NFL quarterback did not take lightly to NBC's edit.
Six-time NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb, who played most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, said the network's removal of Stroud's Jesus comment was "disrespectful" and "lame."
"It's very lame. Players always express that as well, and to have that cut out is truly, it's disrespectful," McNabb said on his OutKick podcast "The Five Spot."
"There are a lot of people out there who are Christians and believe in Jesus, and those who don't believe in Jesus, still, they don't feel like that's disrespectful to them," he added.
"To cut it out and be a media outlet that's focusing on the game interviewing these players, the fans want to feel as one with the player. And when they hear a player talk, they break down everything that young man says and young woman. … I just think, for NBC, they stuck their foot in a hole at this particular point. They got to get themselves out."
McNabb said that NBC should "go back … and evaluate themselves."
"You're a media outlet that's supposed to express and show and display what these young men are all about. This is their opportunity — and their platform to be able to step on stage and tell people and show people what type of individual they are, and C.J. Stroud is doing that," McNabb added.
"That's why you hear a lot of athletes say, 'I can use my platform to reach out to millions of people.' They have to get this thing corrected because that's definitely not the direction it needs to be going in at this point."
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post.
