When nearly 200 people gathered at a public pool outside Cleveland earlier this month for worship, baptisms and testimonies, organizers hoped the event would encourage believers. Now, the Cleveland Browns’ team chaplain believes it could spark something much larger.
Nobles Darby, chaplain for the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers, says the inaugural “Cleveland for Christ” event demonstrated a growing desire among professional athletes to publicly share their faith, and he expects that trend to continue.
“The tide has been turned,” Darby said during an appearance on “The Dawgs — A Cleveland Browns Podcast.”
“Specifically here in Cleveland, we’re going to see more and more pro athletes in our city … be more vocal about who they are … as believers in the Lord.”
Darby, who also serves as the Metro Cleveland Director for the Cleveland Fellowship of Christian Athletes, announced in an Instagram post a public invitation to join the first “Cleveland For Christ” poolside service held at the Berea Municipal Pool on June 7. The event featured 15 players from the Cleveland Browns who gathered for worship, sharing testimonies, reading the Gospel and holding baptisms.
“About three years ago, when I was coming into the Browns organization, I was just praying and I was asking God to give me some ideas of how we could extend ministry beyond the practice facility,” he recalled. “One of the ideas that I had was to do a citywide baptism service … and to just come alongside guys on our team and just open it up to the community.”
The vision gained momentum after Browns safety Daniel Thomas told Darby about a similar outreach event called “Jax for Jesus” that took place during his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Inspired by the idea, Darby and Thomas presented the concept to players during a team Bible study.
“They were super excited about it,” Darby said. “The guys were adamant that they wanted to do something like this before they left … for the summer break.”
Despite travel complications that prevented some players from attending, Darby said approximately 16 Browns players participated.
“We would have had close to 30 guys from the team that were there,” he said.
“The fact that they were literally preparing for mandatory mini camp but they said ‘Hey, despite all of that, before we’re athletes, we’re men of God and we want to leverage our platform … to tell people about Christ,’” Darby said.
Among the players participating in the first event were Thomas, Shedeur Sanders, Taylen Green, Tyson Campbell, Blake Whiteheart, Jack Stoll, Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger and Rocky Sanders.
Schwesinger, the reigning NFL defensive rookie of the year, was among those baptized.
According to the national FCA, nearly 200 people attended the event, where five Browns players shared testimonies and several individuals made first-time commitments to follow Christ.
“What happened in Cleveland wasn’t about football — it was about Jesus,” the FCA said in a June 14 Instagram post.
“What started as a vision to impact the city came together in just two weeks, drawing nearly 200 people from across the community. Five Cleveland Browns players boldly shared their testimonies, the Gospel was preached and several people made first-time decisions to follow Christ.”
Darby shared the quote “It’s a race to the heart of a child and whoever gets there first wins” as he discussed the responsibilities professional athletes have to their communities.
Listing social media, television and their peers as influences on children’s lives, Darby pondered “what would happen if, at a young impressionable age if they were able to hear from a pro athlete that they love, hear them talking about Jesus, what type of fire does that set off in their heart?”
“I believe the best is yet to come and we’re really going to see … this thing spread like wildfire,” Darby concluded.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
