The Ball, The Bible, and The Believer: My Football Testimony for The Real Road to Redemption.Romans 10:9 (KJV)

The Ball, The Bible, and The Believer: My Football Testimony for The Real Road to Redemption Romans 10:9 (KJV). Bible Study Link: https://blacktexans.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-real-road-to-redemption-in-depth.html

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

For as long as I can remember, there has been a football in my life.

Since 1976, football has been one of my greatest teachers. From neighborhood street games where the rules changed from block to block and “sideline kill” was part of the fun, to organized football in elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and beyond, the game became a constant companion on my journey through life.

Football carried me places I never imagined I would go.

It helped me escape the limitations of poverty and see a world much larger than the neighborhood where I grew up. Through football, I traveled across America, earned an education, built lifelong friendships, and experienced opportunities that once seemed impossible. One of those opportunities allowed me to represent my country as a member of the 1984 Aztec Bowl team in Mexico City.

Looking back, I can see the hand of God in every step.

Football taught me discipline when I wanted to quit.

It taught me teamwork when I wanted my own way.

It taught me perseverance when life became difficult.

It taught me how to get up after being knocked down.

Yet for everything football taught me, there was one lesson it could never teach.

Football could not save my soul.

Only Jesus Christ could do that.

Today, nearly fifty years after I first picked up a football, I find myself carrying a burden that I never expected.

Many of the men I played with through the years—good men, hardworking men, successful men—still do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

That realization troubled me.

It caused me to pray.

I began asking God a simple question:

“Lord, how do I reach people who understand football better than they understand faith?”

His answer was simple.

Use what they already know to teach them what they desperately need to know.

Use football.

Use life.

Use the Bible.

And show them the Real Road to Redemption.

That is how this Bible study was born.

While these lessons were inspired by my former teammates and fellow athletes, they are really for anyone trying to navigate life without Jesus Christ.

Perhaps life has knocked you flat on your back.

Perhaps you have encountered roadblocks, barriers, disappointments, and detours.

Perhaps you have wondered whether anybody truly cares.

Perhaps you have carried hurts for so long that they have become part of your identity.

If so, this study is for you.

I know what it feels like to struggle.

I know what it feels like to search.

I know what it feels like to discover that success cannot heal a wounded soul.

Because I have been there.

Done that.

And got the T-shirt.

While football captured my imagination, my mother made sure the Bible captured my attention.

Church was never optional in our home.

Sunday School.

Morning Worship.

Evening Worship.

Vacation Bible School.

Bible Drills.

Christmas Programs.

Easter Speeches.

Mother’s Day Presentations.

We knew the stories.

We knew the Scriptures.

We knew the songs.

But eventually I learned a lesson every child must learn:

Borrowed faith is not enough.

There came a season when life started hitting harder than any linebacker I had ever faced.

Disappointments came.

Dreams changed.

Relationships shifted.

Roadblocks appeared.

Detours emerged.

And in those difficult moments, I could hear my mother’s voice reminding me:

“Son, you have to know the Lord for yourself.”

She was right.

There comes a moment when every person must decide whether they will continue living according to their own will or surrender to God’s will.

When that moment came for me, I stopped trying to be the author of my own story and allowed God to write the next chapter.

That decision changed everything.

I discovered that redemption is not found in achievement.

It is not found in applause.

It is not found in trophies, titles, awards, or accomplishments.

Redemption is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

That relationship has sustained me through victories and defeats, mountains and valleys, joys and sorrows for decades.

As I look back over my life, I realize God used three things to help shape my journey:

A Ball.

A Bible.

And a Believer.

The ball taught me lessons about life.

The Bible taught me lessons about eternity.

And believers pointed me toward Jesus Christ.

In many ways, my entire life can be summarized in one sentence:

God took me from the Field House to the Church House on my way to His Heavenly House.

The field house taught me how to compete.

The church house taught me how to surrender.

The heavenly house reminds me why the journey matters.

Football gave me a platform.

The Bible gave me a purpose.

Jesus Christ gave me salvation.

My prayer is that these seven lessons will help someone discover the same Savior who transformed my life.

Because if God can save an old football player from Fort Worth, Texas, He can save anybody.

If He can use a former athlete to preach the Gospel, He can use you.

And if God can take me from the Field House to the Church House on my way to His Heavenly House, I am convinced that He can save everybody.

The road to redemption is real.

The invitation is open.

The Savior is waiting.

All that remains is for you to believe.

John 3:16 (KJV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Welcome to The Ball, The Bible, and The Believer.

Welcome to The Real Road to Redemption.

Welcome to the journey from The Field House to the Church House… on the way to God’s Heavenly House.