47-Year-Old Pastor Plays College Football After Decades Away from the Game

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A California pastor made his return to playing college football for the first time in three decades.

Justin Buzzard, founder and lead pastor of Garden City Church in Campbell, California, told Fox News and Friends that he is playing as a defensive end for San José City College's Jaguars football team after a 30-year hiatus from the sport, Church Leaders reports.

“I think God cares about all of life,” Buzzard said during a “Fox and Friends” interview on Monday. “I think God thinks football is a fun thing. I’m going to go for it and enjoy it.”

He had previously played football in high school for four years, but managed to play just one year in college due to injuries. Now, as a married father of teenage sons, Buzzard noted he was inspired by watching a video of a man in his 60s.

According to NBC Bay Area, Buzzard contacted a coach at San Jose City College Jaguars and managed to make the team.

“The guys have really welcomed me,” he said, regarding his teammates. “I think they’ve seen that I hold my own out on the field, and I work just as hard as any of them.”

The pastor responded that the players are not “going easy” on him and stressed that he is not going easy on them either.

Buzzard acknowledged that he has been “praying big specific prayers,” such as “God protect me from injury,” given that he had some of his ribs broken from doing martial arts earlier this year. The pastor also wants to be able to “go the distance,” he said, “and help my team any way I can.”

When Buzzard was joining the team, head coach John Winkler recalled telling him, “Here’s the standard, here’s the rules that we go by, as long as you can maintain those, I’ll give you an opportunity.”

Winkler also shared the benefits of having an older player on his team.

“He’s been on the other side,” the coach said of Buzzard. “What I talk to these young guys about all the time, about not having regrets and leaving things undone, now he’s coming back.”

Buzzard, whose jersey number is 48, will be turning that same age next month. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of books such as “Date Your Wife” and “Why Cities Matter.” He is married to Taylor, his wife of 23 years.

Photo Credit: Dave Adamson/Unsplash

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.