A Bible Study That Would Not Stay Small
It started with five players.
Gee Scott Jr., a tight end on the Ohio State Buckeyes, had been gathering a handful of teammates for Bible study. Nothing flashy. Just a few guys in a room, opening Scripture together. But the Holy Spirit does not do "small" when He decides to move — and by the time 2024 was in full swing, that group of five had grown to more than sixty players.
Sixty. On a college football roster. In one of the most competitive programs in the country. Voluntarily studying the Bible.
Something was happening at Ohio State that had nothing to do with X's and O's.
A Message That Would Not Let Go
In January 2024, Scott felt a clear message from God — the kind of conviction that settles in your chest and refuses to leave. God was going to bring his teammates to be baptized. Not eventually. Not hypothetically. It was coming.
Months later, on July 14, 2024, Scott stood at the front of One Church in Gahanna, Ohio, and preached on Saul's conversion from Acts 9 — the story of a man whose entire identity was dismantled and rebuilt by an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Then Scott walked into the water and baptized his teammates.
The scene was staggering. Division I football players — young men who had built their identities around strength, competition, and performance — choosing publicly to follow Jesus.
Joy the World Did Not Give
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, one of the team's most prominent players, captured what was happening in a single sentence: "The world didn't give me this joy, the world can't take it away. I had this new feeling in my heart that the Holy Spirit implanted into me."
That is the language of genuine encounter. Not religious performance. Not tradition. The Holy Spirit showing up and doing what only He can do — giving a joy that has no earthly source and therefore no earthly expiration date.
By late August 2024, the movement had grown beyond Bible study and baptisms. A major on-campus faith event drew players and students together for prayer, worship, and more baptisms. NPR covered it. The national media could not ignore what was unfolding in Columbus.
Champions on the Field, Transformed Off It
And then came the football.
The 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes won the National Championship — the ultimate prize in college football. The Tim Tebow Foundation produced a docuseries called "Redemption" on Prime Video, chronicling the team's faith journey alongside their championship run. It reached over 44 million global viewers.
But here is what matters most: the championship did not create the revival. The revival preceded the championship. These young men did not find God because they won. They won while following God — and the watching world got to see the difference.
What the Holy Spirit did at Ohio State in 2024 is a picture of what happens when one person says yes and keeps saying yes. Gee Scott Jr. did not launch a program. He did not build a brand. He opened a Bible with a few friends — and God did the rest.
