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However, the league will go after anyone, including a church, who breaks the rules. Last February, the NFL cracked down on one church's plans to hold an evangelistic Super Bowl party.

Days before the big game, NFL attorneys slapped a cease-and-desist order on Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, which had been promoting its event on the church website. The league objected to two things: (1) Fall Creek was using NFL logos, without league permission, to promote the event, and (2) the church planned to project the game onto a wall, exceeding the maximum screen size of 55 inches allowed by copyright law.

But an e-mail from NFL attorney Rachel L. Margolies to Fall Creek implied that the league's objections went further; she wrote, "While this [Christianity] may be a noble message, we are consistent in refusing the use of our game broadcasts in connection with events that promote a message, no matter the content."

The NFL's blitz elicited boos from fans and the media. But rather than fight the NFL, Fall Creek canceled the event. Other churches, fearing a possible NFL crackdown, did likewise.

The league quickly did damage control, emphasizing that such events are allowable as long as churches don't use NFL logos, don't charge an admission fee, and show the game on a screen (or screens) smaller than 55 inches. The league also promised to be more flexible about such events in the future.

"If your church wants to hold a Super Bowl party, that's fine," McCarthy, the NFL spokesman, told CT. "We're not coming after any particular group or organization. All we ask is that they abide by the rules when they have their parties.

"The two pillars of the NFL are football and community. … We're not coming after you, as long as you abide by the copyright laws."

But what about the NFL's stance that it doesn't want to be associated with "events that promote a message"—in this case, Christianity? Doesn't the league promote messages through the advertisements—including beer-and-busty-babe commercials—that run during its broadcasts?

"We don't sell the advertising that's on NFL games," McCarthy said. "The networks sell the time. And the NFL does not have to approve the ads."

That stance doesn't convince critics, including Irving Fryar, a former All-Pro wide receiver and now a Pentecostal pastor in New Jersey. "They're sending a message all the time," Fryar said, "and it's boobs and beer. It's the 'sex sells' message."

Fryar is right; by simply allowing such ads, the NFL does send a message. And McCarthy's comment—that the league doesn't have to approve the ads—isn't the whole story. If the NFL didn't want such ads, it could certainly apply pressure on the networks.

Still, most NFL blunders in the area of faith appear to be just that: blunders. The National Football League is a big business. It makes judgments all the time about what will promote business—and what might discourage it.

The league might commit an occasional personal foul when it comes to things of faith, but in a day when instant replay enables referees to reverse bad calls, the NFL sometimes has the wisdom to do the same—to "wave off" the penalty flag, so to speak. And the league has the good sense to realize that many who watch its games identify with the Christian religion. Even those who don't are likely to uphold the über-American value of liberty.

Some fans—and media types—might roll their eyes when a player flaunts his faith, but they'll shrug their shoulders and say, "Well, it's a free country." The NFL, when prodded, apparently agrees.

Mark Moring, a former sportswriter and a Washington Redskins fan, is editor of Christianity Today Movies.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

This article appeared with "Why We Love Football" and "A Kinder, Gentler Coach."

GetReligion.org posted a piece on how the NFL, although trying to clean up its players' image, is ignoring their faith.

"God on the Gridiron," and "Sacramental Football" (from Re:generation Quarterly) address idolatry in sports.

Also see Play Ball, an occasional Christianity Today column that examines the relationship between sports and faith.

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September 2007, Vol. 51, No. 9