8 minute read
Passing the Control
Eagles QB Carson Wentz has always yearned to be in charge; it’s what helped him become a Pro Bowl quarterback. But obstacles, challenges and a deeper understanding of grace led him to a freeing revelation: God is sovereign and God is in control.
BY COLE CLAYBOURN
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< Carson Wentz filming for Football Sunday 2021
t was just his second season in the NFL, but Carson Wentz i who brought a football to recess. He played quarterback, of was right in the thick of the Most Valuable Player discussion. course, imitating some of the greats.
The Philadelphia Eagles took Wentz out of North That leadership mentality carried him through his youth Dakota State University with the second overall pick in the and eventually his high school years at Century High in 2016 NFL Draft, making him the highest quarterback ever Bismarck. He’s always hated to lose, so perhaps it’s no drafted from a Football Championship Subdivision school. surprise he was also the valedictorian of his senior class. Led by Wentz’s production in 2017, the Eagles were on His athletic prowess led him to North Dakota State, and the verge of clinching the NFC East title and contending while the injury in 2017 might have been what truly taught for a Super Bowl. him about surrender, it was a relationship he made during his
Then, just like that, his season was done. In a Week 14 freshman year of college that planted the seed. game against the Los Angeles Rams, in which the Eagles It was the first week of collegiate practices for Wentz, and ultimately claimed that division title, Wentz suffered a torn after one of the first sessions, a fellow backup quarterback ACL. Led by backup QB Nick Foles, the Eagles went on to named Dante Perez — a senior at the time — asked him if win Super Bowl LII. Wentz was forced to watch it all from he’d ever read the Bible. the sidelines. “I had just got done learning about two-jet protection
“For me, I’ve had a fair share of injuries, but never and what the X has on certain plays, all these things,” Wentz something like that,” Wentz said during his interview for said. “My head’s spinning and he wants to talk about the Football Sunday 2021. “Never something where I literally Bible. I’m kind of taken aback. At the same time I knew, here had zero control on my life. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t get it is. I knew God was kind of moving and so I said, ‘I’ve tried, off the couch to go to the bathroom by myself. Complete and I’ve never fully understood how.’ From that moment on, control had to be surrendered. I’d never been to that we started talking.” place before.” During Wentz’s senior year of high school, he started
Looking back on the injury more than three years later, feeling more of a pull to get back to church and get plugged Wentz realizes now that that moment wasn’t just about in. His grandmother gifted him a devotional, and that year losing control over his career or his daily functions. started a shift where he wanted to pursue a relationship with
“To walk through that, obviously it was tough at the God more. time, and I still look back and think it was a tough time, but Growing up, going to church was more of a “check the I know God was moving in my life,” he said. “He wanted box” activity for Wentz. His parents, who divorced when he me to know that He loves me so much, that my relationship was 7 years old, were believers (and still are), but at the time with Him is far more important than winning a Super Bowl, it was more of a “going through the motions” vibe for his than being on that stage in my uniform, than playing in that family, which also included his older brother, Zach. game, because He wanted me fully to Himself. “I thought I was right with God because I was a good
“For me, that took surrendering that control and kid,” Carson said. “I listened to what my dad said. I was kind surrendering all of those things.” of afraid of my dad and I didn’t want to get in trouble, didn’t want to miss sports — all those things. All those factors, in my mind, made me think, ‘I’m good. I’m a good person. Spiritually, I’ve got to be good. I’m saved, right?’” Perez had become a mentor to young Wentz, and it was through that relationship that God grabbed his attention. He and Perez read through the entire New Testament together or as long as he can remember, Wentz has been wired and met up at least once a week to just talk about the Word. to be a leader, to be in control of things. Growing up in It just “came to life” for Wentz. Bismarck, North Dakota, a young Wentz was always the kid “It was really eye-opening to me. I always said I was a
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believer in Jesus, but I didn’t really know what He did for me. I thought it was all about what I could do for Him. When that mindset was flipped on its head — that it was already done for me, and that it was a thing called ‘grace’ and I could live for Him freely and not out of rules and obligation — it just changed my life. From that point on, it was all in for Jesus,” he said.
Fast forward to 2017. Wentz was at the height of his football career, succeeding at the highest level, in a city that holds its teams — and especially high draft picks — to exceptionally high standards. Everything was clicking for Wentz — before the injury. He missed out on the MVP award, which ultimately went to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Wentz was named to his first Pro Bowl, but the rollercoaster continued.
In 2018 he missed the first two games while still recovering from the ACL injury, and once he regained the starting QB spot, he finished with just a 5-6 record. Toward the end of that season he suffered a back injury that led the Eagles to shut him down for the season, once again causing him to miss the playoffs.
Still, the Eagles decided to exercise their fifth-year contract option on Wentz before the 2019 season and retain him as their starting quarterback. Foles left for the Jacksonville Jaguars, effectively serving as a statement that the Eagles were prepared to ride or die with Wentz. They signed him to a four-year extension worth $128 million.
He proceeded to once again lead the Eagles to an NFC East title, and he became the first QB in franchise history to pass for 4,000 yards. But in the NFC wildcard game, Wentz took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Seattle Seahawks defensive end Jadaveon Clowney that left him concussed and knocked him out of his playoff debut, after just nine snaps.
In 2020, Wentz endured a rough season in terms of success. He started the team’s first 12 games, but was replaced by rookie Jalen Hurts during a Week 13 game against the Green Bay Packers. Drafted out of the University of Oklahoma in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Hurts ended up starting the rest of the season as the Eagles finished 4-11-1. entz has had plenty of highs and lows, but he said he’s never once gotten to the point of feeling mad at God. He knew he would face trials and seasons of suffering, and he said it’s in those seasons that he leans into those emotions and gets vulnerable with God. He’s learned to submit those moments to God and ask that His will be done through them.
“I’m always the guy that says, ‘God, what are You trying to teach me?’” he said. “But it’s hard in the process. That sounds easy right now to say, but to have that mindset in the moment is extremely challenging.”
It’s all part of what makes his faith journey what it is, he said. His faith allows him to keep everything in his life in perspective and still use his platform to share the Gospel, whether he’s on the field or not.
His wife, Maddie, and their young daughter, Hadley, also help. Hadley was born in April — a “pandemic baby,” as he described it. Together, along with Wentz’s brother Zach, they operate the Audience of One Foundation.
AO1, as Carson calls it, operates a food truck in the Philadelphia area that gives free food to anybody and everybody, with whom they share the Gospel as well. They also have an outdoor ministry that takes place in North Dakota, and helps kids get through illnesses and gets them outdoors doing recreational activities. It’s another way to share the Gospel.
“They leave with an appreciation for the outdoors, but also an appreciation for Jesus, more than anything,” he said.
Additionally, AO1 partners with Mission of Hope to do work in Haiti building a sports complex.
For Wentz, it’s all about submitting everything — his life, his talents, his platform — to God. It’s no longer about control. It’s about trusting that God is sovereign.
“He’s sovereign over every aspect of my life,” Wentz said. “I can look back and think, ‘At the time that was no fun,’ or, ‘At the time, I didn’t like that.’ But God was moving. It’s always Him behind everything. For me to say He’s sovereign and He’s in control, I think that’s been the biggest thing.”
