Former Ohio State Football Player Pursues Call to Evangelism
After sustaining four ACL tears and returning to score a touchdown, an Ohio State Buckeye is giving all glory to God and pursuing a call to ministry.
For one Ohio State University football player, although victory on the field felt good, it was nothing compared to the victory he had in Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Born in Columbia, Missouri, Kamryn Babb recalls his grandparents taking him to church at First Assembly of God, now C2 Church, from early in his childhood. When he was 7 years old, Babb attended an Assemblies of God kids camp and it was there, during a worship service, that he first encountered the Holy Spirit.
Although he moved to St. Louis when he was 8 years old, Babb carried with him the early impressions of the Holy Spirit that he had experienced at camp.
It was at 8 years old that Babb also found his passion and talent for football.
“Every year I played, I just kept seeing this elevation in my skill level and, although I’d like to take credit for it, I know now that it was because of God,” he says.
His giftedness in the sport was noticed by teammates, coaches, and college recruiters. During his sophomore year, Babb started receiving offers from colleges to join their football programs and, in his junior year, he committed to playing at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
In his final year of high school, Babb sustained his first injury; a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
While Babb recovered well from his high school injury, it wasn’t long before he suffered another ACL tear.
“After my second injury, I wasn’t happy about the setback, but I was in a decent headspace,” Babb states.
Then, tragedy struck again when Babb tore his ACL for a third time. After his third injury, Babb decided to return to St. Louis, Missouri, for a visit while he continued to heal. When he arrived at the airport, he was erroneously told that he was not scheduled to be on the flight he knew he had booked, due to a computer issue. The airline offered to book him on a flight leaving later in the day, so Babb returned to campus until it was nearer the time of his departure.
On his way back to the airport, Babb struck up a conversation with his Uber driver. Babb states that as they drove, he noticed a Bible on the driver’s front stand.
“I had shared a little about my knee injuries and then we started talking about Jesus,” Babb states. “As we neared the airport, the driver asked if he could pray over my knee.”
As the driver, who would later become a mentor to Babb, laid hands on his knee, Babb states that he immediately felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a familiar way.
“I know the Holy Spirit never left me, but I hadn’t experienced Him like that since I was a kid,” he states. “It was like He had wrapped a blanket around me and taken me back to the altar call where I had first encountered Him,” he says.
Babb states that he began weeping and instantly knew in his spirit that he was supposed to be there in that moment, in the presence of God. Although he knew that the Holy Spirit had never left him, he had finally allowed himself to get to a place where he was surrendering.
“It was like I was the lost sheep that had been found,” he says.
Immediately after the encounter, Babb excitedly called his Gigi and told her what had happened. He also knew, as he boarded his flight, that he wanted more of what he had just experienced.
Upon his return to Ohio State University, Babb started attending church again, invited by the gentlemen who had prayed for him on the way to the airport. As he walked into Hope City House of Prayer in Columbus, Babb noticed the people around him walking in a freedom that he had not before witnessed.
As the pastor concluded his sermon on knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, Babb walked to the altar and started repenting and crying out to God.
Babb left the service and admittedly struggled between surrendering to a life-changing faith and continuing in some of his old habits. However, after attending the church for three months, he knew he couldn’t walk the fence any longer and decided, in that moment, that he would live his life completely committed to Christ.
The struggles he had been facing, though, did not instantly disappear. Babb tore his ACL for a fourth time.
“It was clear that the call to follow Jesus doesn’t mean things get easier, but if you stick with it, through the trials and tribulations, you know that your blessing will be an eternal one,” he says.
As he continued in his Ohio State football career, he was given, what he calls, an incredible opportunity to share his testimony on a public stage.
In a 2022 game against Indiana, Babb scored his first career touchdown. Immediately after receiving the scoring pass from teammate C.J. Stroud, Babb hit his knees in gratitude to the Lord.
“There are a lot of people chasing all of these things in life,” Babb says, “but in that moment, I realized that even if you catch the things you are chasing, they could never fulfill you the way Jesus can.”
Babb’s agent, Jordan Ohler, commented on how that touchdown gave Babb a platform, almost instantaneously, to share his faith.
“As Kam was being interviewed after the catch, people kept asking him what brought him through all of his setbacks, leading up to this incredible moment,” Ohler says. “He just broke out in his testimony, and it wasn’t long before he had dozens and dozens of invitations to come speak at churches across the country.”
Babb has had the opportunity to see salvations and baptisms after sharing his story and continues to point people to Christ however he can. Babb plans to attend seminary at Liberty University and states that, although he doesn’t yet know all of the details, he does know his life will be one of service and ministry.
