Answering The Call | Faith & Football Interview with Grand View QB, Jackson Waring

Football is more than a game.

Behind every helmet, every practice, every injury, every victory, and every setback is a story. A story of perseverance. A story of purpose. A story of faith.

At NFL Draft Diamonds, we have always believed in three core values: Faith, Football, and Family. Those values are the foundation of who we are, and now we are proud to launch a new series dedicated to sharing the powerful testimonies of the people who live them every day.

Welcome to Answering the Call.

This new platform gives football players, coaches, scouts, executives, and personnel from every level of the game an opportunity to openly share their journey with God. Through triumphs and trials, these stories will reveal how faith has guided them through some of life’s toughest moments and greatest blessings.

Football can inspire people, but faith transforms lives.

Our mission with Answering the Call is simple: to encourage others, spread hope, and share the Word of God through authentic conversations from members of the football community. Whether you are an athlete chasing your dreams, a parent supporting your child, or someone searching for purpose, we believe these testimonies will speak to your heart.

God calls each of us differently. This is where those stories are shared.

This is Answering the Call with Jackson Waring!

1. What was your family background and what early influences shaped your faith or worldview?

Throughout the course of my childhood and all the way up to the current day I have been brought up in and heard the good news. My dad was involved with the church and he ran youth ministry events through sports and other outreach programs. It was a central part of our family and who we were/are. Church was every Sunday and made sure I attended weekly Bible studies with kids my age. Making sure I was involved and growing to understand and know The Lord. As I grew older I became less and less acquainted with the church and began going away and doing my own thing. Though I was brought up in this way I had taken it for granted and let it go through one ear and out the other. During my time in high school and early years of college I was far from The Lord. I went to Des Moines Christian where I attended chapels and had bible courses all throughout my time in high school. My heart had grown hard. I was ignorant and did not care to listen. If I did listen it was only something that stuck with me for a bit, but I did not retain it. I was looking for things that comforted my flesh and did not confront me with my sin. I was involving myself in relationships that were not building me up and only defiling myself. I was out partying and drinking and destroying my body. I was very self centered and was absorbed in the fact that football was my identity and that is how I wanted people to know me. I did everything I could to make sure I was a great football player but did not mind anything else. I did not consider how I treated others or spoke to them. I was arrogant and wanted to make sure I got mine before anything or anyone else was taken care of. Throughout my time in high school I acquired a handful of scholarship offers from FCS schools to play quarterback. That was my main goal. To play D1 football. That is all I cared about and I seemingly would do anything to make sure I would obtain it. That’s what I wanted people to know me for. Football is who I served.

2. Was there a turning point or defining moment in your faith journey? If so, describe it.

When I had hit rock bottom and was out of thought as to what I should do, I began isolating myself. Distancing myself from my peers. Slow to respond, low motivation, angry, disappointed in myself knowing I had just thrown a good thing away. That is when one night in all of this I went back, deep into thought and was thinking about The Lord. My time throughout childhood, my years at Des Moines Chrsitian. The Lord. I knew of Him, but I didn’t truly know Him. I am interested now. Nowhere to turn. Nowhere to go. But I had Him on my mind. I found this book titled Make Your Bed. In this book it pertained to discipline and being consistent with your actions and your daily habits. In there though the author put references from the book of Proverbs in there. So everytime I came across one I would open my phone and go to the Bible app and read it. Most of them did not make much sense to me and I needed to sit on it. Wrestle with it. Ask questions. Some did make sense and with the ones that did make sense I applied quickly to my life. Though still struggling with the faults of my flesh and wickedness of my heart, I was slowly starting to build a foundation that is the cornerstone to my life now. As I continued to dive into proverbs through the help of this book, I still was not reading anything about Christ. That is when I took a pause on Proverbs and went to the New Testament to get my first taste of living water. It was only after a couple weeks of finding this book and pointing me towards The Word did I find myself sitting on the edge of my bed thinking. Knowing. This is what I should and must do. There in the fall semester of 2022 in my final semester at Illinois State I gave my life to Jesus and never looked back. Giving your life to Jesus is not a fix all remedy once you have confessed with your mouth and believe in your heart. This is where the real war starts that is waged on your soul daily. I didn’t understand that last sentence till much further down the road, but I had an anchor now. An eagerness to learn from Him. To allow Him to change my life, my heart, my actions, and words. It was like going back and forth on the narrow road and the broad and wide road in the beginning. It was using discernment and conviction from the Holy Spirit to know whether I was serving the flesh or walking in the Spirit. Slowly but surely, day by day I continued to learn and grow and listen for what The Lord had for me. His mercies are new every morning, and His grace is sufficient enough for me. Though I fell, He picked me back up out of the mud and mire and put me back on my feet. My heart was repentant and I sought after His forgiveness, not abusing it, but rather looking to make sure I was submitted and admitting that I had done wrong and disobeyed. He never left me and only stood by my side as I continued to yearn for Him and cling to Him with all that I had. Because truly I still did not know what my plans were moving forward with football and school. I had an anchor though. I have my cornerstone. That is Christ. Fast forward a couple months and I would find myself getting ready to go to Grand View University where The Lord was sending me.

3. How does your faith shape your identity and daily life as a student-athlete?

I was now at Grand View University. Fresh off the boat from Illinois State. I was in a new environment and in a program that was used to winning. A powerhouse. I was now in a position to make sure I would carry on that tradition, but not my way. His way. I wanted The Lord to use me in order to do this the right way. Consistently in thought and prayer I needed to start building where The Lord wanted to take this program. That first stop started with relationships. Relationships are key. Not just getting acquainted with someone and maintaining shallow conversation, but actually getting to know the individual. Now can you truly do that with 90-100 men on the team? Not necessarily, but you can introduce yourself and make sure you know every man on the team who you will be serving. Authenticity and being transparent is imperative to leadership just as much as serving them is. Who you are behind closed doors is who you are in the open. So make sure you are solid. That solidness only comes from one place, Christ. Because He is who we submit too and follow. He gives us the template and through us He builds it. So I built these relationships by making sure I was in the dining hall for at least 1-3 hours. I would sit with one table for 30-45 mins, they would leave and I would stay, and another group would show up and they would sit around and we would talk and so forth. I did this everyday all the way up until I had graduated and finished my time here at Grand View. Building relationships with those on the team was the most important part of laying the foundation for the kind of culture we wanted to build. The foundation was Christ. The culture was loving, servitude, discipline, honesty, accountability, encouragement, and integrity. Yes, there were men on the team who did not know Jesus or knew of Him but did not care for it. That’s the beauty of the planter and a waterer, but ultimately The Lord helps it grow. Through The Lord working through me and on this team He was implementing the culture on the team that reflected Christ which was mentioned above. It took 3 years to do this. The first year was the slowest and most difficult, but all three years produced fruit in their own seasons and in their own way. All in The Lord’s timing. As we progressed through solidifying the kind of culture we wanted to establish I wanted to make sure that I was last and my teammates were taken care of in any way that I could think of. Myself and the leadership team made sure (believer or not) to exemplify these characteristics to our teammates and to those outside of the football team. Teammates started to buy in and learned to lean on one another. To count on one another. To serve one another even if it meant not being beneficial for the individual, but rather for the good of those around them and what was best for the team. Now you have 90-100 guys with servant led mindsets working in a collective. Even better for those who did not believe they were seeing first hand what The Lord Jesus called us to do; To serve The Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind; To love your neighbor as yourself. The two greatest commandments were being worked out in full amongst the team. I saw this as a mustard seed being planted. Something that is so small, but in turn when fully grown is one of the largest garden shrubs. Reaching 6-10 feet, even 20-30 feet sometimes. That’s the message of the Gospel. Something that is accepted and trusted upon, that then ensues to an individual seeking and building The Kingdom of God in all areas of his/her life.

4. How have you used your faith to serve others or impact your community?

This is what I wanted for my men. That there is more to life than football, girls, money, fame, material wealth, and so forth. The greatest thing they could have received is the Good News of Jesus Christ and to see first hand by testimony and action what the good Lord has done in my life. So through relationships and maintaining integrity with my own faith and daily walk, The Lord was able to establish Christ as our foundation and to build His Kingdom within the Grand View program. Throughout the three years, I got to hold Bible Studies where we went through Proverbs, John, James, Phillipians, 1 Corinthians, Romans, and more. Some were in totality and others were scattered. We held these in the dining hall and this is where we dove into books like James, John, Proverbs, and Phillipians. The other books took place during our summer workouts heading into the 2025-2026 season. Where we settled in 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, and Acts. I made sure it was digestible in a way that the men could understand and related it to football. I wanted them to see the purpose of The Lord being sewn into the game of football. How football is a platform, a tool to reach many. In that summer I got to baptize five of my teammates. It was one of the coolest things I have ever gotten to do, but even greater to see five of my friends and teammates publicly give and show that their lives are for Christ.

5. What encouragement or advice would you share with others from your journey?

My advice for younger athletes, believer or not, would be; Never faint in the day of adversity, give your life to Christ, and never look back. When you do this, have great faith, be courageous, and it will be done. Acknowledge The Lord in all of your ways and He will make straight your paths. Lastly and also firstly, Write the two greatest commandments on your heart; Love The Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself. We are in this for the applause of nail scarred hands. The praises of men will come and go. We are not here to obtain notoriety or fame in this world that so quickly forgets when you are not at the top. But God does not forget, He has rewards in Heaven that He will hand out someday. In God’s Hall of Fame by just believing in His son forever there is your name. For the man and his glory while here will soon fade away and be forgotten, we should rather strive to have our name written up there covered in Jesus’s name.