It helps keep you focused on what’s important. Not only what is important now, but also keeping a long-term perspective on things. – Patriots offensive tackle Jordan Devey
PHOENIX — In the high-stakes world of NFL football, focus is a premium attribute, one sought by coaches, players and personnel alike.
Focus in the toughest moments, when decisions and actions have to be right, determines the sometimes small difference between winning and losing.
At the same time, keeping perspective is vitally important, not only when things don’t go your way but when success could lead to complacency.
For five members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who will be a part of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, their LDS faith provides a way to keep perspective and focus in life and on the field.
"My faith is a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t be in the position that I am without that," said Seahawks fullback Will Tukuafu, a native of Salt Lake City who prepped at East High.
Tukuafu's resolve was tested when he reached an injury settlement with San Francisco early in the 2014 season, making him a free agent. That came less than two years after he played with the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII against Baltimore, which the Ravens won 34-31.
Those losses didn't deter Tukuafu, and in midseason, he joined Seattle when the Seahawks lost their starting fullback, Derrick Coleman, to a season-ending injury.
"I’m grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a wonderful family, with wonderful opportunities. It’s my responsibility to come out here and share that with others," he said.
Patriots offensive tackle Jordan Devey, who grew up in American Fork, has risen from the ranks of Snow College to Division I football at the University of Memphis to the NFL, all in six years since his LDS mission to Costa Rica. He said the blessings from working hard and staying faithful may not be immediate, but they do come.
“It helps keep you focused on what’s important. Not only what is important now, but also keeping a long-term perspective on things,” he said.
Devey's teammate, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, has also been impacted by the teachings of the LDS Church. During his travels to the Super Bowl, Siliga earned a starting spot on the New England defensive line after being unable to maintain a roster spot on three other NFL teams in his young career.
"It helped shape me into the man I am today, showing me examples of how to grow up and fight through adversity as well," said the West Jordan native, who prepped at Copper Hills High and played at the University of Utah.
Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell experienced firsthand one of his own examples of how faith and football can intertwine. His father, Jim, was a faithful member of the church and a longtime high school football coach. Father and son would often watch game film together.
Those lessons paid off in life, as Bevell served an LDS mission to Cleveland and successfully led the University of Wisconsin as its quarterback for four seasons. Then came a coaching career that soon gave way to life in the NFL, first as an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers.
Several years later, the ultimate football dream was achieved when Bevell and Seattle beat Denver 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII last season. The Lombardi Trophy had been brought home.
Complacency could have been there when Seattle started this season 6-4, or when Green Bay led the Seahawks 19-7 late in the fourth quarter of the NFC championship game. But by keeping his team focused, aided largely by quarterback Russell Wilson, the Seahawks rallied and are back in the Super Bowl.
Bevell said faith helps him in his daily interactions with others, and played its role in keeping his team together through adversity.
"It shapes everything that I do everyday, to be able to have that as my moral compass and to be able to keep me on the right track," the coach said.
Like Tukuafu, Seahawks tight end Tony Moeaki was a midseason addition to the team, and it came after an injury settlement with Buffalo. After starting his NFL career strong with the Kansas City Chiefs, it began to fizzle with the Bills, largely because of injury. Family and faith kept Moeaki afloat and moving forward when adversity hit, and now he finds himself competing for a title with the defending Super Bowl champions.
"It’s helped a lot. Me and my family are real close," he said. "They keep me grounded."
Between Moeaki, Tukuafu and Bevell, there is a small but strong nucleus of an NFL family within the Seattle organization. Tukuafu said the trio take the sacrament together and enjoy their own little faith fraternity, where inside jokes and conversations about LDS things are the norm.
But those LDS lessons extend to the rest of the team as well. Bevell, as an assistant coach, has the opportunity to lead by example, not only for those of his faith but to the entire team, particularly the offense.
"It’s kind of separate in a sense, (being) LDS to coaching football," Tukuafu said of his coach. "At the same time, it’s really similar: family-oriented and everyone understands their job and knows what to do."
Email: bjudd@deseretnews.com; Twitter: @brandonljudd