On Sunday (Jan. 23), rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, previously dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” by virtue of being the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, led the San Francisco 49ers in victory over the Dallas Cowboys to take the team one step closer to Super Bowl LVII by advancing to the NFC Championship.
Purdy has been vocal about his faith, expressing to Sports Spectrum in 2021 that his “identity is in Jesus.”
“I’m living to be set apart,” Purdy said in that interview. “It’s easy to, yes, repent of your sins and be about Jesus…to know, ‘I can’t keep doing this sin. You know, I’ve acknowledged it; I gotta move on.’ But to be on fire for the Lord and walk with him. I think, right now, man, I’m all about, ‘Hey, I’m living set apart from the world. People can think this about me or whatever. That’s fine.”
Purdy continued, “The bottom line for me is that my identity is in Jesus. I get that. And I’m gonna roll with that.”
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“It’s not, ‘Hey, I’m better than you,’” Purdy went on to say. “No, it’s, ‘I’m called to do this. I’m called to witness. I’m called to share the word. I have this knowledge, you know, of the Spirit. And I want to give it to as many people as I can…I’m continuing to grow in that. And, man, I just wanna be able to witness and defend the Christian faith as best as I can moving forward.”
At the beginning of the 2022-2023 season, Purdy was named the third string quarterback for the 49ers. But when quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo experienced injuries, Purdy got his shot to play, winning all five regular season games in which he started.
In Sunday’s game, Purdy completed 19 of 29 passing attempts for 214 yards. The 49ers beat the Cowboys 19-12 and will face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sun, Jan 29, for the NFC championship title. The winner of that game will advance to the Super Bowl.
In a press conference before the 49ers win against the Cowboys, Purdy said, “I’m a faith-based guy, so that’s how I stay grounded. I don’t look at football like it’s literally everything, it’s ‘do or die,’ or anything like that.”
“It’s a game, and it’s my job, for sure. And I take it very seriously,” Purdy continued. “But at the end of the day, I know I’m not defined by, you know, the wins or losses as a person. You know, that’s not who I am. I’m not a quarterback—I wasn’t born just to be a quarterback and play football and that’s it. Like I have a life and everything like that, and I remember that.”
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Expressing that he is nevertheless still a competitor who wants “to win at all costs,” Purdy said, “Definitely thankful and blessed to be here for sure.”
