Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins’ dad calls out ‘platform’ of pro sports

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ father, a Florida pastor, preached a message critical of the “platform that’s taking place” in professional sports in a sermon Sunday that is making the rounds on the internet.

In the sermon titled “Pt. 3 — Abide,” the Rev. Don Cousins, a pastor at Discovery Church in Orlando, ended his hour-long message by denouncing the secularization of Ivy League universities, history textbooks and the agenda of “most of the media, the arts and Hollywood.”

“If you’re at all tuned in to pro sports these days, and what’s unfolding there, you know the platform that’s taking place,” Mr. Cousins said. He did not describe the platform but noted, “Religion is being silenced as God is being removed from our culture.”

Liberal social media accounts pushed the remarks, which can be seen in a video on Discovery Church’s website, in light of comments his famous son made in July that appeared to be flippant about the coronavirus pandemic by saying he was taking a “survival of the fittest” approach to the virus and “If I die, I die.”

The quarterback, who led the Vikings to the playoffs last year, clarified those remarks to media in the Twin Cities on Wednesday, saying, “What I was trying to say back then, admittedly, I probably wasn’t as clear as I would have liked to have been.”

Earlier in the day, the Spotify podcast “10 Questions With Kyle Brandt” published the interview.

The former Washington quarterback has been public about his devout Christian faith and being reared by his parents. His father is one of the founders of Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in suburban Illinois.

“Satan has an agenda and he controls the institutions of the world to message you and me,” the pastor said Sunday. He also recounted a story about warning his son not to “erode” in his faith before dropping him off for college at Michigan State University.

On Thursday night, Mr. Cousins stuck up for his son on Twitter, invoking two Bible verses and writing, “As his father, I would be saddened if Kirk were to speak of fearing COVID and even sadder if he was fearful of dying.”

Later he wrote, “Well done Kirk! Proud of you!”