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Generally, the NFL has no problem with players "loving God with their lives." But talking about Jesus Christ can be trickier. Several Christian players said the league would prefer that its players act like Christians, but not necessarily say they're Christians.

"The NFL certainly adores the manner in which Christians walk," said Bears team chaplain Harry Swayne, who played in the league for 14 years. "But they surely wish we'd do less proselytizing, absolutely."

"Christians are always going to ruffle some feathers," added Seattle running back Shaun Alexander, the league's MVP in 2005. "The NFL might prefer we keep quiet about our faith, but that's just who we are. They're not against faith; they're just looking at it as a business, and they're trying to make a buck. But I don't think they're anti-church."

Christian players and coaches told CT they feel free to talk about their faith, and even evangelize, as long as they use discernment.

The league has no rules against discussing religion—or evangelism.

"There's nothing to preclude anyone from expressing their faith within the guidelines of on-the-field play," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "By that we mean our uniform policy, which means you can't have any personal message on your uniform. Beyond that, players, coaches, and others are free to say what they want."

Mike Singletary, assistant head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, said, "I don't think the NFL really cares one way or another. They're just concerned about what's good for the game."

Singletary added that the "faith-friendliness" of the NFL as a workplace varies from team to team, depending primarily on a given franchise's leadership. Others agreed.

"I've never been with a franchise where faith issues are frowned upon," said 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer, who has played for five teams. "As long as I'm discerning, there's never been any huge persecution for talking about my faith."

Dungy (see "A Kinder, Gentler Coach," below), who has been with six teams as a player and coach, said no one has ever asked him to back off from discussing his faith in his 29 years in the league. "I don't know that the NFL is any more or less faith-friendly than any other workplace," Dungy said. "The team wants you to win; that's why you're hired."

Post-game prayer huddles—where players from both teams gather to kneel at midfield—became popular around 1990. That's when Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly penned a blistering commentary, saying that the prayer huddles were offensive to people of other faiths and that he didn't want players to "shove their religion down my throat."

Peter King, a Sports Illustrated senior writer who has covered the league for nearly two decades, said he sometimes tires of players bringing up their faith after a game. "To be honest with you, people like me just totally ignore that, because we're not writing about religion," King said. "We're not writing about somebody's Christianity. Once the questions veer off into game-oriented things, that's when I start taking notes."

King isn't down on Christians. Some of his favorite players—including Dilfer and Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner—are believers. King lauds them as men of integrity, and added that Smith and Dungy "are among the most moral men you will ever find."

And he concurs that the league itself isn't anti-faith. "The NFL is unfriendly to anything that is going to violate its rules," King said. "They're not prejudiced about anyone's faith."

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September 2007, Vol. 51, No. 9