80 Million Americans Believe God Will Decide the Super Bowl

Repent, ye sinful Pats!

By Frank Minero

Twenty-six percent of Americans believe the Super Bowl will go to the team favored by the Lord. Is God a Pats fan or has Russell Wilson’s devotion to God given the Seahawks a leg up? According to a new study from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Religion News Service, that’s the question 80 million Americans are mulling over right now.

The study finds that 26% of Americans and 27% of U.S. sports fans believe God has a hand in choosing the winning team. In addition, a majority of Americans, 53%, say that God rewards faithful athletes with good health and success.

A 2014 study by PRRI found that 33% of football fans pray for God to help their team win, 31% believe their team has been cursed and 25% perform pre-game or game-time rituals.

Don’t lose your car keys, need help winning the lottery or be a starving child in Africa this Super Bowl Sunday. One-quarter of Americans say God will be busy. He’s got a big game to decide!

Do 26% of American’s have good reason to believe God intervenes in sporting events? We could look to last Sunday’s Packers / Seahawks game for a clue. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the game:

“I don’t think God cares a whole lot about the outcome (of football games). He cares about the people involved, but I don’t think He’s a big football fan.”

The quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, Russell Wilson, praised the Lord and gave him full credit for the win. Wilson said of the four interceptions he threw during the game:

“That’s God setting it up, to make it so dramatic, so rewarding, so special.”

Wilson comes across as the more faithful of the two, so God should have his back, right? However, if faith is the deciding factor, why is super devout Christian Tim Tebow’s career in the crapper? In fact, the Patriots found their way to the Super Bowl after giving Tebow the boot!

Personally, I believe it’s strange to think a divine being would care about the outcome of a football game, but we Americans do believe strange things. 

According to the Washington Post, here are a few odd beliefs Americans hold without scientific evidence to support them: roughly 59% of Americans believe dreams can foretell the future, 52% believe in ghosts, 21% believe in Bigfoot and 17% believe fortune tellers can foresee the future.

No one’s been able to demonstrate any of the above phenomenon are real. If you think you can, talk to James Randi. Prove it and he’ll give you a million bucks.

For the 26% who think God will choose the winner on Super Bowl Sunday, what will the justification be if the less devout team wins? Could the dramatic Seahawks victory over the Packers and the devastating deflate-gate controversy plaguing the Patriots simply be God creating drama so a Patriots win is extra special and rewarding?