I'm intrigued by the wondering out there this week as to whether it’s kosher for athletes to praise God when they’re interviewed after a victory. Kosher may not be the right word, for literally that would mean it is acceptable to religious people—or at least a specific portion of them. And the question at hand seems to be whether it is acceptable to the non-religious people who have to hear all this “glory-to-Godding.”

So let’s think about this for a few minutes.

One of the key criticisms of athletes who thank or praise God for a victory goes like this: “Well, of course they’re praising God. They won.” It’s not a criticism that’s too verifiable because, well, normally postgame reporters only interview the winners.

Except there was one very interesting moment during the Super Bowl that might actually have revealed a look at the other side. In the fourth quarter, Matt Stover of the Indianapolis Colts missed a 51-yard field goal attempt. It was outside his range, really, so an unlikely effort. But when it fell short and left, Stover raised two fingers to the sky as though he had made it. CBS’ all-world sports anchor Jim Nantz didn’t miss the moment. He noted that this was something Stover does whether he makes or misses a field goal, because he is “a spiritual man.”

In case you don’t know, Stover’s spirituality is most definitely of the Christ-focused sort—and, if his response to his missed field goal is any indication, perhaps a Calvinist as well. More than all that, what Stover may represent is the one thing the critics have counted on not existing: an athlete who praises God even when things aren’t going well.

But let’s think further.

What of the athlete who is purportedly a believer of the evangelical persuasion who doesn’t, you know, evangelize when the mic is thrust his way after a win? Would you ever imagine his silence to be a key component of his evangelism?

Several years ago, I spent a good many minutes during an interview with a PGA Tour player talking about just this thing. With a couple of recent wins under his belt, I had been asked why he hadn’t said anything in his post-victory interviews—no strong it’s-all-about-Jesus words. So I put the question to him. His explanation was outstanding, and one we might do well to hear more often.

You see, while PGA Tour players (and a lot of athletes in a lot of other sports) have regular interaction with fans, their closest day-to-day engagement is with their colleagues in the game. This particular player had been building at least one good friendship with a non-believing player, someone whose life he was having increasing opportunity to speak into. And this player to whom I was speaking suggested that should he come out with widely reported “Yea for Jesus!” words, his growing friendship with this other player might have been jeopardized.

I know, there is much good reason to run with Paul’s words, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16). There is reason as well to speculate that in God’s sovereignty had this player gone ahead with some Thank you, Jesuses, his friend might not have thought him to be a freak but authentic. Who knows? I would leave it to the Christ-centered athlete to judge in his or her own heart just where to go with words of testimony and praise when the lights are on and the cameras rolling.

So here’s one thing we could conclude: an athlete who gives verbal praise is not doing as big a thing as we might suggest, be we in favor of those kinds of words or against them.

Then again, I may be wrong. After all, I hear no battles raging over Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir’s announcement that he is adorning his room in the Olympic Village with a photo of Lady Gaga, saying, “She needs to be there watching over us, protecting us.” Maybe people only get opinionated when the words are about God, and especially when Jesus is named.