The man upstairs didn't play during the Green Bay Packers' 27-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, but didn't stop the team's quietly Christian quarterback from taking a subtle God-related shot at the openly Christian quarterback on the other side.
After throwing two touchdowns against the Seahawks at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers credited God in his postgame press conference. "I think God was a Packer fan tonight," he told reporters.
Chalking the results of sports games up to faith is a common practice for religious athletes -- something that Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson did after beating Rodgers' Packers in last season's NFC Championship game in January.
“That’s God setting it up, to make it so dramatic, so rewarding, so special," Wilson told reporters after snatching a Super Bowl trip away from the Packers.
Two days after that game, Rodgers, a Christian man himself, disagreed with Wilson's belief that God had intervened to set up an NFC Championship victory.
"I don’t think God cares a whole lot about the outcome. He cares about the people involved, but I don’t think he’s a big football fan," Rodgers told ESPN Wisconsin.
Rodgers has been more reserved about publicly expressing his faith than many other NFL players in the past. While he once told ESPN Wisconsin that he puts "God first" in 2011, he once spoke in depth with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about trying to be selective in when he discusses his religion.
"I’m not an over-the-top or an in-your-face kind of guy with my faith," Rodgers said. "I would rather people have questions about why I act the way I act, whether they view it as positive or not, and ask questions, and then given an opportunity at some point, then you can talk about your faith a little bit."
Also on HuffPost:
