ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Thanks to their 10 wins, Ohio State University's football team will compete in the College Football Playoffs later this month. But the team's also been making headlines for its activities far from the playing field. Star players are leading what they call a Christian religious revival on campus. Allie Vugrincic from member station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, reports.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC, BYLINE: On a warm summer evening, hundreds of students at Ohio State University gathered around a stage in the campus courtyard. Senior student Lucas Brill (ph) was among the onlookers.
LUCAS BRILL: They were just, like, getting all hype. It was like a locker room but for Jesus. It was cool.
VUGRINCIC: Students sang, clapped and prayed. And then they sat quietly and listened as the campus' most revered idols, the football players, gave testimony about their Christian faith. One of the players on the stage was star running back TreVeyon Henderson.
TREVEYON HENDERSON: God just started drawing people in. You know, and we didn't know it was going to be that many people.
VUGRINCIC: Then the baptisms began. Student after student was dunked in one of several large tubs of water.
(CHEERING)
VUGRINCIC: Brill was one of more than 50 students who were baptized that night. He says he didn't get baptized solely because of the football players' testimony, but the players did draw him in.
BRILL: For them to be on a big stage every Saturday and then say that something's bigger than them, that's pretty humbling. And I don't know, it was kind of easy to follow their lead and humble myself.
VUGRINCIC: Students and players deemed it a revival. Football and faith have long been connected. But the scale of the event and the fact that college athletes were baptizing other students was unusual.
PAUL PUTZ: It does mark something that's a little different, a little unique.
VUGRINCIC: Paul Putz directs the Faith and Sports Institute at Baylor University's Truett Seminary. Putz says religious expression should be encouraged and all religions welcomed on every college campus. Ohio State's main campus in Columbus draws students from all over the world who represent a diverse set of beliefs, and many of them are devoted to their football team. But when football and its adored players are so closely tied to the identity of a school like Ohio State, and then Christianity becomes aligned with that football team...
PUTZ: There can be a sense, I think, from some that other expressions of faith maybe aren't as welcome.
VUGRINCIC: Asked for a comment, Ohio State University spokesman Chris Booker said in a statement that Ohio State is home to more than 66,000 students of numerous religious faiths. Our campus is an open and welcoming place for students to express their beliefs. Henderson admits not everyone wants to hear about God, but that doesn't phase him.
HENDERSON: You know, there are times where people don't want to hear about Him. But, you know, God calls us to share His word whether the time is favorable or whether it's not.
VUGRINCIC: But overall, it seems Henderson's message has been well-received. He denies that his star power is the reason. He says it's all God's work.
HENDERSON: We all are loved by Him equally. And so, you know, God can use anyone.
VUGRINCIC: Throughout this season, Henderson and some of his teammates have found the time to publicly express their faith. Team members have appeared on Christian podcasts and regularly mention God in media interviews. During a scuffle that broke out following the team's recent loss to rival Michigan, Henderson was nowhere near the fisticuffs. Instead, he was in a prayer circle on the side of the field. Scrawled across his eye black tape was the verse Romans 10:9. The verse reads, if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Henderson says before finding God, he would've been in that scuffle. He doesn't know what the end of the season will bring. But he says God has a plan for Ohio state, and it has nothing to do with tackling or touchdowns.
HENDERSON: You know, He's not done working on this campus. You know, He's going to continue to move throughout this campus and draw more people to Him.
VUGRINCIC: For NPR News, I'm Allie Vugrincic in Columbus, Ohio.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRUSHRIVAL'S "DIME QUEENS AND FAST MACHINES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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