Nebraska Star Jess Gardner Shares Powerful Message About Religion

Nebraska athlete Jess Gardner believes sports are an avenue to become closer to God.

A viral video from former athlete Alex Dragicevich drew some attention for the Cornhuskers track and field star after he described college athletes as "Godless."

"When the cheerleaders were throwing a party, none of my friends were like, 'I'm going to pray on it.' If I were to describe college athletes in a word, I think it'd be Godless. If God is watching college athletes off the field, you know he's up there like, 'That wasn't in the book. Not one of the commandments. This isn't how you worship me,'" Dragicevich claimed.

Well, Gardner is firing back.

Jess Gardner shares powerful message about the impact of religion on sports.

While Dragicevich might have his view of athletes and religion, the Nebraska star has her own and shared her opinion in an impressive video.

She stated the following, in part:

"To be honest with you, I think being an athlete in college has done nothing but bring me closer to God. Being surrounded by teammates who have brought me closer to God, teammates who have brought me closer to God, athletic staff who have brought me closer to God. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by teammates who inspire me and push me to be closer to God. For example, this past summer, I did a bible study with some of the jumpers on my team. I've gone to different churches in Lincoln with athletes from multiple sports, not just my track and field teammates."

Jess Gardner also made it clear she's not the greatest Christian to ever live, but has seen the impact of religion on athletes play out in front of her eyes.

She further added, "I am not a perfect Christian. I am striving every single day and every single year to grow even stronger in my faith than I previously was, and I understand my experience is not reflective of everyone else's. But I think it's important to understand your experience is not reflective of everyone else's, and I think saying college athletes, if you would use a word to describe them, it would be Godless is a really dangerous message to be spreading."

You can watch her full comments below, and let me know your reactions at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. 

Gardner is taking a stand for her faith.

There's a lot of darkness, pain and suffering in the world right now. It's an unfortunate fact, but it's true. There is a lot of evil out there, and that evil causes people to hate and push division.

One of the positives we've seen recently in society is a lot of people with platforms stepping up to talk about God and religion. C.J. Stroud seemed to get the ball rolling, and more quickly followed.

Now, Jess Gardner has joined the group of athletes speaking up in support of religion and God. It's great to see, and it's a reminder there's also a lot of good in the world.

As for Dragicevich's comments, I used to work in college athletics and have some very close friends who have played sports at the highest level. The idea they're all Godless - his words, not mine - is simply not true. Do college athletes do stupid things? Yes. Do they drink too much, chase women, engage in immoral behavior and fall short of the standards we'd like to see? Without a doubt, but that doesn't make them Godless. It makes them imperfect humans. I'm team Jess Gardner on this one. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.