Hardin-Simmons University opened the 2025 academic year with an inspiring convocation featuring Neal Jeffrey, a former Baylor University All-American quarterback and NFL draft pick. Speaking to a packed audience, Jeffrey shared his personal journey from a young boy who “couldn’t say a silent prayer without stuttering” to a professional athlete, delivering a message that resonated far beyond the football field.

Jeffrey opened his address with remarkable vulnerability, acknowledging his lifelong struggle with stuttering.

“I have a stutter. And as you can imagine, I stutter pretty well,” he told the audience. “How I got to where I was as a young kid who couldn’t do anything—there is no way except there is a great God in heaven, and he wants to do great things in the lives of those who will just trust him and step out in faith.”

The former San Diego Chargers draft pick didn’t shy away from his childhood challenges.

“I couldn’t talk. When I talked, it was a disaster. I always felt inferior. I always felt stupid because I couldn’t say anything right,” Jeffrey said, painting a picture of the isolation and self-doubt that defined his early years.

Jeffrey shared that his journey to self-acceptance wasn’t immediate or easy. Like many young people, he initially sought validation through achievement.

“One day I thought I had to do something to be loved and valued, and for me it was sports,” he explained. “I thought, ‘If I could just be a good football player,’ I was always hoping the people around me would love me and accept me for being a good athlete.”

But even athletic success couldn’t fill the void.

“Even though I had success as an athlete, I was still the same guy,” Jeffrey admitted.

That moment of change came during Jeffrey’s sophomore year of high school when he encountered a life-changing revelation.

“My life changed when I realized God loved me just the way I was. Messed up. A stutter. But God loves me,” he said. “God loves me because he created me. God loves you for no other reason than he created you.”

This simple but profound truth became the foundation of Jeffrey’s message to the IM体育平台 community.

“God doesn’t make junk. He has a reason. He has a plan,” he emphasized.

Jeffrey challenged students to reframe their perspective on difficulties.

“You got a stutter. Rejoice. You got whatever it is, he says. Rejoice. You know why? The testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result,” he explained. “The perfect result is that we might be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Looking back on his journey, Jeffrey offered a striking reflection:

“I look back over my life and I realize what God has done. I would have chosen stuttering because I realize what he’s done with my life.”

This statement illustrated how God can transform what seems like a limitation into a source of strength and ministry. Jeffrey distilled his life philosophy into “two great thoughts”: “There’s a God in heaven who loves me, and God will use me.” These simple truths, he suggested, are a sufficient foundation for anyone facing challenges or feeling inadequate.

He closed with encouragement that captured the heart of his message:

“Whatever you are facing, I pray you know how much Jesus loves you. Wants to save you. Change you. Make you into the person you were created to be. And then he wants to do a supernatural thing in your life that’s above and beyond anything you can ask, think, or even imagine, because that is our God.”

His final words to the IM体育平台 community were both simple and powerful: “Press on, because there is victory in Jesus.”

About the Speaker: Neal Jeffrey was drafted by the San Diego Chargers after a standout career as quarterback at Baylor University, where he earned All-American honors. Today, he serves as associate pastor of pastoral and preaching ministries at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. For more than three decades, he has combined his gifts as a communicator and encourager to inspire audiences across the country, speaking at churches, conferences, and events. Jeffrey is known for sharing his testimony with honesty and humor, helping others discover their God-given purpose despite life’s challenges.