Nearly 1K People Attend Christian Revival Led By College Football Stars

Multiple Ohio State star football players led a large Christian revival on the university’s campus on Sunday night that attracted between 800 and 1,000 people and resulted in dozens of baptisms.

Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, and former OSU wide receiver Kamryn Babb led the revival service, according to student-run newspaper The Lantern. The event organizers, which included churches from the Columbus area, set up four tubs filled with water where around 60 students who attended the meeting were baptized at the end of the night, The Lantern reported.

During the meeting, the OSU football players talked about their faith in Jesus, and the crowd participated in singing worship songs. Babb, whose playing career was cut short by four ACL-related injuries, discussed how he didn’t realize how “broken” he was before he felt “the weight, the love, the grace, the mercy of God wrap [him] like a blanket.”

“I was just doing my thing because it was fun, and I’ll tell you this: I was on High Street, and I enjoyed it,” Babb told the crowd. “I had fun. But at the same time, I didn’t recognize my condition. I was spiritually dead. I could go out there, and I could smile and laugh … but on the inside, I was broken.”

Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.

After the players shared their messages, around 50 attendees joined them on stage to pray before many decided to be baptized, according to The Lantern. After people were baptized, volunteers helping with the event led them to a nearby building where they gave them Bibles and helped them read through Scripture.

Ohio St football players leading other students to Jesus! @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/mJwYNaGIja

— Dr. Derwin L. Gray (@DerwinLGray) August 26, 2024

“We were praying for years and years for an event like this, and we were praying with expectation. We serve a miracle-working God,” said Egbuka, who is expected to be the team’s top receiver in the upcoming season. “So we definitely had an expectation when it came out, but God did increasingly and abundantly more than what we thought. So, we’re just blessed and thankful.”

Tuimoloau added, “I don’t think anything I accomplish on the field compares to what is happening right now.”

Henderson, who led the Buckeyes with 926 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in the 2023 season, agreed with Tuimoloau, stating, “Whatever I’ve done, this right here — what God is doing — is so much more important and so much bigger.”

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI

The Christian revival meeting wrapped up the first weekend on campus after the start of the fall semester, which kicked off on Tuesday, August 20.