A football player is giving thanks to God for not being blinded in an accident where he suffered burns on his face. He’s since launched a new line of merchandise to raise awareness about the plight of burn injuries.
Cleveland Browns football player David Njoku declared that “I give all the glory to God” for surviving the accident when speaking to reporters on Friday. “When it happened … my eyes were open,” he recalled. “I saw everything. I really should have been blinded.”
David Njoku spoke today, said he’s grateful to God to be alive.
Said his eyes were open when the whole thing happened and he’s blessed to have his vision and his breath. #Brownspic.twitter.com/Cc6yxwUeQb
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) October 13, 2023
Acknowledging that “luckily I’m not,” Njoku reiterated that he was giving “all the glory to God.”
The Browns’ official website first noted that Njoku suffered burn injuries to his face and arm in a “household accident” in a Sept. 30 statement announcing his addition to the injury list as his participation in the following day’s game against the Baltimore Ravens remained “questionable.”
Njoku alluded to his injuries in a Sept. 30 post on X and suggested that he intended to play in the game anyway. “The flesh is weak,” he wrote. “See u tomorrow #DawgPound.”
The flesh is weak. See u tomorrow #DawgPound
— Chief David Njoku (@David_Njoku80) September 30, 2023
Njoku ultimately participated in the game, electing to wear a mask on his face. He shared a picture of the injuries he sustained in an Instagram post on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, he explained that he shared the picture of his injured face after receiving “a lot of messages from … other burn victims” as well as “nurses that have burn victims.”
“They were telling me how like everybody feels like embarrassed to show whatever so I wanted just to come out for them and show myself so … everyone might feel a little bit better about themselves,” he added. “At the end of the day, things heal.”
Last week, Njoku launched a new merchandise collection called “Withstand” on MILLIONS. The company’s website characterizes MILLIONS as “a unique platform built to help athletes make money and grow their brand and following.”
Additionally, MILLIONS touts its services as combining “the world’s best technologies to offer athletes a ton of value to build their brand, channel, and following through several products and services — no matter what stage of career” an athlete is at. Njoku’s MILLIONS collection amounts to an effort to “help bring awareness to an all too common issue and shed some light on an otherwise unfortunate incident.”
“Every purchase of Withstand on my MILLIONS.co profile will have a share of proceeds donated to help the American Burn Association,” he asserted in an Instagram post unveiling the collection. Specifically, the proceeds raised from the clothing sales will go toward “supporting burn care, prevention and research.”
Items available for purchase include hoodies and T-shirts featuring the phrase “The Flesh is Weak” written on them, a separate set of hoodies and T-shirts with a picture depicting Njoku in a football jersey surrounded by fire and a third set of shirts with the word “Chief” written on them, referring to Njoku’s nickname.
Even before his burn injuries made him thankful to be alive, Njoku has repeatedly identified himself as a practicing Christian. Both his Instagram profile and his X profile have the phrase “I fear God” written in all capital letters in the biography.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
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