God vs. Country, who you got?
Before Ben Johnson put on another masterclass against the New York Jets on Sunday, winning a third game with a third different quarterback in the first month of the regular season, Chicago Bears wide receiver Kalif Raymond made some very ignorant people extremely upset. Why? He was recorded praying near the end zone as the national anthem was being performed, but of course the discourse turned into islamophobia as Raymond was incorrectly labeled as a Muslim because of the way he was praying.
Radio and Real America’s Voice host Grant Stinchfield incited the mob as he posted the video of Raymond kneeling in prayer with the caption, “Don’t pray to Allah during OUR national anthem! Massive disrespect for America from (Kalif Raymond).” The worst of the worst spread the video with similar feelings. You know, hating Raymond because he’s a Muslim who was praying during the national anthem.
But wait, Raymond isn’t Muslim at all. In fact, he appears to be a devout Christian who went to Greater Atlanta Christian School in Georgia, then played at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit school. Last Thursday, the Bears put out a mic’d-up video where he’s straight up saying, “I’m going to thank Lord Jesus first.” Back in 2022, with the Detroit Lions, he said he was “thankful that the Lord blessed me” after getting a game ball.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
The pathetic reaction from the angriest people on Earth, internet reply guys, is that it still would not matter what religion Raymond practices. He isn’t offending a single soul by doing what he’s doing, and for those claiming the wide receiver is being performative and trying to draw attention to himself, how about you look in the mirror? You’re so mad that someone is praying during the anthem, when there are actual atrocities happening on a daily basis that should make your heart break, not the guy praying to your same God.
And I’ll repeat: the people who made this go viral are the scumbags here. They just want to be mad about anything and everything. They’re the true villains, whose only goal is to feed off others’ insecurities.
Look at the difference between that post and the one from Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles back on Sept. 28, also at Soldier Field, where Raymond was praying the exact same way.
I still cannot believe how many people get mad about this stuff. But then again, every other comment you see on social media is from a bot, so welcome to 2026, I guess.
