First Baptist Church Bentonville, Arkansas, welcomed more than 1,300 student athletes and coaches on July 16 for their Night of Champions, where attendees had the opportunity to hear words from Denver Broncos’ quarterback Bo Nix.
The church had football players from 14 schools throughout the region — from Pea Ridge to Rogers — come out for the event to hear Nix, who is known for openly sharing his faith. The main event featured a sit-down with Nix and his father, Coach Patrick Nix. Lead Pastor Chris Dixon led the discussion, asking faith, family and sports related questions of both.
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In his 2024 regular season with the Denver Broncos, Bo Nix completed 376 out of 567 passes for 3,775 yards, with 29 touchdowns – second most by a rookie in NFL history.
“You explain all those awesome numbers, but I’m just sitting here thinking how they could have been better. The unique part about playing sports, I think, is how you are never as good as you want to be. But sometimes you also have to look and appreciate the good you do have,” Bo Nix said.
‘Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now’
Bo Nix encouraged the students in attendance to remember that what they do today will define who they are tomorrow and the years to come.
“You get so focused on right now … you don’t think about the bigger picture. You have to make decisions now that are going to affect you in the future. … Dad used to tell me, ‘Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.’ I was fortunate to have a good coach and good dad who really pushed me to where I wanted to go.”
Bo Nix referenced Daniel 1. The story begins when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieges Jerusalem and conquers the city. The king then orders the chief of his court officials to bring into the king’s service “young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.” (Daniel 1:4-5)
Among those chosen were some from Judah, including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.” (Daniel 1:8)
“One of the things I’ve always taken from that is Daniel, before he was put in that situation, he had to decide,” said Bo Nix, touching on the topic of peer pressure. “At some point, he had to make the decision that no matter what, as I go on this journey, no matter what position I am going to be put in, I am going to have to make different decisions. … If you really legitimately want to get somewhere of value, want to get somewhere and have success … you have to be different from everybody else. It’s really tough to stick out in a crowd in middle school or in high school. I understand you want to be the ‘cool guy.’ You want to be like everybody else. You want to fit in. But sometimes fitting in is not what you’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes fitting in is actually the opposite of what you are supposed to be doing.”
Bo Nix encouraged the students in attendance to know their circle, know their truth and know God.
“You’ve got to have a close tight circle, guys you can truly count on, and they’ll help you know the truth, know who God is,” Bo Nix said. “You’ve got to have your priorities right. You’ve got to be thinking about the right things or you’re just gonna fall.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mary Alford and originally published by Arkansas Baptist News.
