82 NFL Figures Petition U.S. Leaders for Stronger Response to Nigerian Persecution

A coalition of 82 current and former NFL players, coaches, chaplains, and family members has sent a powerful letter to President Donald Trump and bipartisan congressional leaders, demanding urgent U.S. action to address what they call a severe and ongoing crisis of religious persecution against Christians in Nigeria.

Dated December 19, the letter highlights prominent signers such as Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston, New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson, and Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, among dozens of others.

The signatories describe the situation in Nigeria as both a profound moral crisis and a strategic concern for the United States, noting that years of targeted violence have received insufficient global attention.

“Religious and ethnic persecution in Nigeria has reached a level that demands immediate, concrete action from the United States,” they wrote. “We are grieved and outraged by the mounting violence, and we write to urge you to act now to confront religious persecution in Nigeria and ensure that those responsible are held to account.”

The group outlined specific recommendations, including conditioning U.S. military aid and arms sales on demonstrable progress in protecting civilians, imposing targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials and non-state actors involved in the violence, and significantly increasing humanitarian assistance for millions of displaced persons. They further called for Congress to mandate quarterly public reports on religiously motivated attacks and for the administration to appoint an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom—a position that has remained vacant.

Nigeria is widely regarded as one of the deadliest places on earth for Christians.

According to human rights reports cited in the letter, over 52,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, including more than 7,000 in 2025 alone. Thousands have been abducted, more than 19,000 churches destroyed, and millions displaced from their homes. Advocacy organizations estimate that Nigeria now accounts for over 80% of global Christian deaths due to faith-based violence.

For over a decade, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for systematic violations of religious freedom. Critics, including the NFL signatories, have pointed to inadequate responses from Nigerian security forces and a lack of accountability for perpetrators.

Emphasizing the urgency, the letter concludes with a direct appeal:

“We ask you, as leaders of this nation, to use the full weight of your offices to defend the fundamental right to live and worship freely,” they wrote. “The lives at stake cannot wait.”

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