Quotes from Benjamin Watson

So much of football relates to Christian life - sacrifice, commitment, discipline.

I sometimes think they should have said 'Black Lives Matter Too,' because that is really what is being said. The outcry is that historically and presently, the feeling is that black lives don't matter as much as white lives because we don't see the same type of things happening to them.

Fortunately for me, I had a father who didn't let us get away with anything. You were taught respect, and you were taught to be humble. That has a lot to do with how I am now, because I'm still scared of my dad.

I have been pulled over, and I have actually worried, 'Is something going to happen to me even though I am a law abiding citizen?' That is a real fear and is something that we have to come to grips with.

I can tell my grandkids that I played with Drew Brees and Tom Brady, and Flacco will definitely be added to that list.

People are hurting and looking for answers. The Gospel gives us hope.

The reason why 'Black Lives Matter' is a chant is because a lot of people feel, myself included, that sometimes they don't matter.

The NFL goes to great lengths to protect what it calls 'the integrity of the game.' The same should be said for us as individuals. Integrity, the truthful interaction of word and deed, not only creates leaders in the locker room who are worthy of being followed; it is also vital for success at home.

The thing that happened in Ferguson touched many of us in a specific way.

completely different lenses. The racial divide is about the reality each side sees. Each side believes its view is the true reality, and we can't understand why the other side doesn't see the same thing and understand our reality.

And we tend to adopt the attitudes and prejudices of the groups we're in. In short, at some point in life, perhaps as early as grade school, we find ourselves "taking a side" in the racial debate. We become aware that the differences matter.

Deep in their hearts, millions of ordinary people like you and me—seemingly good people who consider themselves fair and unbiased, who have black and white friends—hold certain opinions, assumptions, and prejudices toward the other race. That's the problem.

The solution to the problem of race in America will be found only by ordinary people, "good" people, looking inside themselves, being honest about the assumptions and biases that have formed, and beginning to change what's in their hearts.

Among the many memorials and observances for the victims, one thing became clear: There is a unique power within the human heart to overcome hate and racism.

Here's what's really bad about those shows: They reduce every issue or event to a debate. And this approach spills out of the TV studios and into our lives. We become all about "taking a side" and arguing it fiercely. We then look for facts to fit our assumptions. And we learn to distrust everything that doesn't fit our version of reality. And all of this simply divides us.

Here's what's really bad about those shows: They reduce every issue or event to a debate. And this approach spills out of the TV studios and into our lives. We become all about "taking a side" and arguing it fiercely. We then look for facts to fit our assumptions. And we learn to distrust everything that doesn't fit our version of reality.

Much is made of black-on-black crime—the common assertion that a high percentage of black people commit crimes against other blacks. But what is often left out are statistics about white-on-white crime, which is equally high. The fact is, we are largely a segregated society, and thus crimes committed in our segregated communities will more likely be committed against members of our own race.

This was the United States justice system supplying forced black labor to corporate America long after slavery had been abolished. So how can we trust the power structure of white politics and white law enforcement to have our best interests in mind?

Racism is based on an elevation of our own talents, physical characteristics, and DNA—which we inherited by no choice or merit of our own—over someone else's. It's an assumption that the other person is different and thus we are better. It's an attitude that says, "I represent the norm, and you are the variation, the outlier, the odd one.

Sometimes, we feel like we don't want to offend people, but there are times that we need to express ourselves without fear that somebody is going to shut us down simply because we have differing opinions. That's how we grow.

White people think one thing and black people think another thing about the same event. And we automatically, before we really know what happened, kind of pick our sides.

You can be a great father if you are willing to let God use you as an instrument.

The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It's the gospel.

All I'm saying is, is God the god who we look to for comfort during tragedies? Is he the god who can control all those things, or is he the god that we don't even trust with our daily lives... As long as there's prayer and exams, as long as there's games, there will be prayers.