CJ Stroud showed his emotions on the field when his best friend and teammate, Tank Dell, sustained a nasty injury. As a result, the second-year Texans quarterback faced a lot of backlash — with some arguing that he shouldn’t have lost composure at a nationally broadcast game. Some critics also suggested Stroud should have toughened up. However, like the majority of fans, CJ’s mother showed her support for her son’s reaction.
Advertisement
Kim Stroud shared a powerful bible verse on Twitter, accompanied by a heartfelt message reading, “Keep loving CJ# very proud you are my son# Jesus lives in you.”
“1 John 4:20 ‘If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen’,” the bible verse in her tweet read.
It’s a powerful verse, showing that loving and caring about someone to the point of getting emotional over them shouldn’t be looked down upon. It shows that from the inside, you have a good heart and you are empathetic — something we should all aspire to.
1 John 4:20
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen”. Keep loving CJ# very proud you are my son# Jesus lives in you https://t.co/88o1Mk7Mun— Kim Stroud (@KimStroud510) December 24, 2024
Kim also included an IG link in her post that leads directly to CJ’s post-game reaction to the injury and the backlash that followed his emotional moment. In the snippet from his presser, the QB made sure to share his thoughts on why it was such a somber, emotional moment for him. Although, it’s unfortunate that he had to even explain it.
“To see something that he had really no control over, it’s not easy. So that’s where that [emotion] comes from.”
Stroud further stated that, growing up, like many men, society encouraged him to suppress his emotions. Especially tears.
But it’s a new world today, he said. Crying is okay. It shows you’re human and that you care. Many people suppress their emotions, letting them build up until they turn into anger. That’s not a healthy way to handle any situation.
View this post on Instagram
What Stroud did was totally fine. And quite honestly, we’re starting to get a little too “nit-picky” when it comes to how we critique athletes. These men and women are on camera more than ever, on and off the field. It takes a toll mentally to have to constantly deal with the ups and downs of a sports season as well. There can be high highs and very low lows.
And at the end of the day, players like Stroud are just expected to look on as a brother-in-arms is down, to what could be a career-ending, gruesome injury, and just be okay with that? No, that would mess anybody up mentally.
Stroud even shared how he does bible study with Dell twice a week. These two aren’t just friends, they are almost brothers. We should definitely stop bothering him for showing a little emotion.
