Learning to Trust God

On the football field, Evan McPherson’s confidence is evident when he boots a field goal or an extra point after a Cincinnati Bengals touchdown.

Faithful Cincinnati fans have become spoiled when No. 2 trots onto the turf because he usually nails the pigskin through the uprights.

The Bengals selected the Florida Gators product in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft. His impact was almost immediate, and his postseason performance that season was historic.

His 14 field goals during the Bengals’ 2021 playoff run, capped off by a Super Bowl appearance in Los Angeles, tied him with legendary kicker Adam Vinatieri for the most field goals in a single postseason. He also set the NFL record for most postseason field goals made without a miss.

His clutch field goal kicking when games are on the line earned him the nickname “Money Mac,” and a 59-yarder in the 2022 season established a franchise record.

But Evan’s confidence is combined with humility and a grateful heart. Growing up in Fort Payne, Alabama, he was shy, especially when it came to worshipping the Lord … until he went to a church camp.

“I was born and raised in a Southern Baptist church,” he recalls. “We’d go to Sunday and Wednesday church and never missed.”

His faith took off at summer camp when he was in fourth grade.

“It was the infamous ‘cry night’ or worship night,” he says. “That was the night I gave my life to Christ. A week later I got baptized at my home church in Fort Payne. My life has been a journey of digging deeper into what the Bible says and how Christians really live their life and what we are here to do. I want to have an impact on those who don’t believe in Christ. That’s what my journey is about. I want to be an example. I want everyone to know Christ and see Christ in me.”

The church camp where he gave his life to Christ is also where he learned the significance and power of praise and worship.

“Some of those sermons I heard as a kid were directed right at me,” he says. “The Lord used the preacher to speak directly to me, and he told us one night that Christians—of all people—should worship God. I felt led and challenged to do something about that.”

That night, Evan started to praise the Lord and worship Him with hands held high.

“I stuck my arms in the air and just worshipped my heart out,” he said.

He went to the front to pray, and a counselor took him aside and talked with him.

“I was just bawling my eyes out, and I felt like I had a purpose,” he says. “I wanted to live and strive to be a better person every day. When I worship now, I praise Him and He lifts me up.”

Evan is grounded in faith and does not take his job as a kicker for the Bengals or his relationship with the Lord for granted.

“Every day is a gift,” he says. “I’m blessed and know it could all be gone tomorrow.”

Evan has seen that attitude in his younger brother, Alex, who recently went through a health crisis at Auburn University.

A placekicker for the Tigers, Alex is following in his big brother’s footsteps. He is also learning to deal with the complications of ulcerative colitis and still play football at the highest collegiate level.

The 2023 football season at Auburn saw the 5-9, 160-pound junior from Fort Payne, Alabama, connect on all 13 field goal attempts and all 40 extra point kicks. After that perfect season, expectations were huge for 2024.

But toward the end of the season, as the team prepared for a bowl game against Maryland in Nashville, Alex became ill. Out of nowhere, his life changed.

He began to lose weight, and the unexplained issue continued into the 2024 season, where—although he made six of seven field goal attempts and all of his nine extra point tries—he scored only 27 points compared to 79 the previous year.

Alex eventually dropped from 160 pounds to 110 and was growing weaker.

Finally, after a successful surgery in which doctors removed his entire large intestine, he’s back on the field, with one addition to his War Eagle uniform—an ostomy bag.

Alex told the Montgomery Advertiser in April that the surgery changed his life.

“I wouldn’t be here or playing football again without the surgery. I think it was definitely the right decision for me and my family. I’m glad I did it,” he says.

When doctors told Alex he could play football with an ostomy bag, he knew he’d be back on the field. But he knows that his football future is not guaranteed. “[If] I’m not able to go out there and do my best, I’ll give it up,” he says.

Evan is amazed by Alex’s recovery. He is thankful for wonderful doctors and also for the healing power of the Great Physician.

“Through all the trials of life, I think our faith has to get stronger,” he says. “We are always told that God won’t put us through anything we can’t handle, and I think Alex is a perfect example of that.”

Evan points out that Alex had been a standout kicker in high school—he broke the state high school record when he nailed a 61-yard field goal—and he was on top of the world with his success at the college level.

“All of a sudden this happens to him, and his whole world was shaken,” Evan says. “He had to learn how to handle it spiritually, physically and mentally. He did a great job of learning about it and not looking at it as a hindrance.

“Seeing his resilience and putting things in perspective is key. It can all be gone tomorrow or in a blink of an eye.”

Evan knows that God took care of his brother, and he believes great things are in store. But his personal salvation experience is what keeps him appreciative of God’s blessings.

He has a lot to praise the Lord for. He gets to play football with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and be a part of a Cincinnati team that is a legitimate threat to go deep in the postseason each year. And he gets to watch his brother kick field goals again, when his future was in doubt a few months ago.

“We all go through things for a reason,” he says, “and we just have to trust His plan. Who would think that Alex could kick a football with a bag strapped to his side, but he can. Medical science is amazing. And God is always good.”  ©2025 BGEA

Del Duduit is a regional manager with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and covers the Cincinnati Bengals for the Portsmouth Daily Times.

Photo above: Place kicker Evan McPherson (2) makes a field goal attempt during an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens.