Louisiana Football Players Baptized Amid Sex Scandal: 'A Family That Prays Together Stays Together'
The University of Louisiana football team was recently plunged into crisis following a number of arrests stemming from sexual assault allegations. However, amid the serious incident some of the team members have turned more towards God and have decided to be baptized.
Although a number of players on the football team, known as the Ragin Cajuns, were dismissed amid the sexual assault allegations, quarterback Terrance Broadway recently described why he and other teammates were baptized in recent weeks.
"An old church saying is, 'a family that prays together stays together and as a team we've grown so much closer in the past four weeks with battling adversity," Broadway said, according to TheAdvertiser.com. "The only way we've really done that is though God."
Along with Broadway, senior linebacker Le'Marcus Gibson, senior cornerback Melvin White and senior safety Rodney Gillis recently took part in a public baptism as a sign of their faith in Christ. The baptism was performed by UL football team chaplain Eric Treuil who said he believes that the issues with the recently dismissed football players on the team have inspired people to reaffirm their faith.
"I do think it played a part - (them thinking), 'I just want to make sure I'm not going to find myself in any situations,' and instead of just going with the flow they stepped over and decided to make some good, strong decisions," Treuil told The Advertiser. "It's saying, 'Hey, I'm telling everybody I'm living out the Christian life,' now they've put themselves out there for some accountability, too."
Gibson, recently baptized linebacker, spoke about the importance in spirituality on his team.
"The spirituality on the team is something big. It just says something about the team, and the character of the team, and how close we've grown together," Gibson said in The Advertiser. "We've all got a strong belief in God, so it was just something to show we really want to get on the right track."