6. Leonard Williams
Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams, 31, credits Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO) conferences with showing him Christian love and community. “You just see all these families and people from different walks and backgrounds all coming together, uplifting each other,” he said on a Sports Spectrum podcast.
Williams, known as “Big Cat,” said he finds peace by viewing trades and other turbulence as God’s will. About his 2023 mid-season trade to Seattle, he said, “I couldn’t control my new environment…but I could control going to work and having a positive attitude, working hard in practice.”
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Williams and wife Hailey, daughter of NFL great Ronnie Lott, are expecting their first baby. The athlete now sponsors teammates and staff so they can attend PAO conferences, just as a friend sponsored him years ago.
7. Head Coach Mike Macdonald
At just 38, Seattle’s Mike Macdonald is the third-youngest head coach to reach the Super Bowl. The second-year Seahawks coach credits God with directing his career path and with strengthening him to be a servant leader.
Speaking to the media this week, Macdonald called faith in Jesus his “guiding light every day.” The coach said he strives to create a “beacon of light” and to impact people positively.
Macdonald expressed gratitude for others in the Seahawks organization who set Christian examples and publicly share their faith. For Christmas, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak bought Bibles for everyone on the team. Chaplain Jonathan Rainey spent this season leading chapel services about the life of Jesus, “our True North.”
