Paul Putz
@paulputz.bsky.social
Historian. Director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. Author of THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME
Into sports, theology, religion, culture, writing, teaching. Also all things Nebraska. James 1:19.
https://linktr.ee/PaulPutz
Into sports, theology, religion, culture, writing, teaching. Also all things Nebraska. James 1:19.
https://linktr.ee/PaulPutz
Who else is going to Boston this weekend for AAR/SBL?
Hit me up if you'll be around and want to connect. And if you're free Saturday, check out our "new books in sports and religion" panel.
Hit me up if you'll be around and want to connect. And if you're free Saturday, check out our "new books in sports and religion" panel.
November 19, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Who else is going to Boston this weekend for AAR/SBL?
Hit me up if you'll be around and want to connect. And if you're free Saturday, check out our "new books in sports and religion" panel.
Hit me up if you'll be around and want to connect. And if you're free Saturday, check out our "new books in sports and religion" panel.
Special moment for me this week. Got to celebrate receiving the Guittard Book Award at Baylor:
history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/2...
When I started the book project, our two youngest weren’t even born yet.
Grateful for the incredible support my family has given me along the way!
history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/2...
When I started the book project, our two youngest weren’t even born yet.
Grateful for the incredible support my family has given me along the way!
November 13, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Special moment for me this week. Got to celebrate receiving the Guittard Book Award at Baylor:
history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/2...
When I started the book project, our two youngest weren’t even born yet.
Grateful for the incredible support my family has given me along the way!
history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/2...
When I started the book project, our two youngest weren’t even born yet.
Grateful for the incredible support my family has given me along the way!
A great mail day.
New book from two of my favorite sports historians. And Justin Giboney’s latest.
Can’t wait to dive in!
New book from two of my favorite sports historians. And Justin Giboney’s latest.
Can’t wait to dive in!
November 6, 2025 at 12:22 AM
A great mail day.
New book from two of my favorite sports historians. And Justin Giboney’s latest.
Can’t wait to dive in!
New book from two of my favorite sports historians. And Justin Giboney’s latest.
Can’t wait to dive in!
Josh Levin has made some of my favorite narrative history podcasts (Slow Burn, One Year).
He has a new project that explores “history, sports, and the surprising threads that connect past and present.”
Give it a listen so @joshuablevin.bsky.social can make more!
open.substack.com/pub/replaybo...
He has a new project that explores “history, sports, and the surprising threads that connect past and present.”
Give it a listen so @joshuablevin.bsky.social can make more!
open.substack.com/pub/replaybo...
November 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Josh Levin has made some of my favorite narrative history podcasts (Slow Burn, One Year).
He has a new project that explores “history, sports, and the surprising threads that connect past and present.”
Give it a listen so @joshuablevin.bsky.social can make more!
open.substack.com/pub/replaybo...
He has a new project that explores “history, sports, and the surprising threads that connect past and present.”
Give it a listen so @joshuablevin.bsky.social can make more!
open.substack.com/pub/replaybo...
Later this month I'll be at Wheaton College for a talk on my work as a historian of sports and Christianity in America.
If you're in the area, please join us! Or if you're not but you know someone who is, please spread the word.
More here: calendar.library.wheaton.edu/event/15257468
If you're in the area, please join us! Or if you're not but you know someone who is, please spread the word.
More here: calendar.library.wheaton.edu/event/15257468
October 7, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Later this month I'll be at Wheaton College for a talk on my work as a historian of sports and Christianity in America.
If you're in the area, please join us! Or if you're not but you know someone who is, please spread the word.
More here: calendar.library.wheaton.edu/event/15257468
If you're in the area, please join us! Or if you're not but you know someone who is, please spread the word.
More here: calendar.library.wheaton.edu/event/15257468
October 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Excited for this talk at Wheaton next month!
If you’ll be in the Chicago area on October 30, come by for a talk about sports, American history, and evangelical Christianity.
If you’ll be in the Chicago area on October 30, come by for a talk about sports, American history, and evangelical Christianity.
September 25, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Excited for this talk at Wheaton next month!
If you’ll be in the Chicago area on October 30, come by for a talk about sports, American history, and evangelical Christianity.
If you’ll be in the Chicago area on October 30, come by for a talk about sports, American history, and evangelical Christianity.
Some personal news:
I was informed this week that THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME has been awarded the 2025 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from
@aschurchhistory.bsky.social.
This award is for "outstanding scholarship in the history of Christianity by a first-time author."
I was informed this week that THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME has been awarded the 2025 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from
@aschurchhistory.bsky.social.
This award is for "outstanding scholarship in the history of Christianity by a first-time author."
September 19, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Some personal news:
I was informed this week that THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME has been awarded the 2025 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from
@aschurchhistory.bsky.social.
This award is for "outstanding scholarship in the history of Christianity by a first-time author."
I was informed this week that THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME has been awarded the 2025 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from
@aschurchhistory.bsky.social.
This award is for "outstanding scholarship in the history of Christianity by a first-time author."
Traveling today and I’ve got my airport reading ready to go
September 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Traveling today and I’ve got my airport reading ready to go
Went back in my research files to find this gem:
Lee Corso delivering a talk on the importance of motivation at the 1972 meeting of the American Football Coaches Association.
Tons of exclamation points and some ALL CAPS. You can hear his voice in this thing!
Lee Corso delivering a talk on the importance of motivation at the 1972 meeting of the American Football Coaches Association.
Tons of exclamation points and some ALL CAPS. You can hear his voice in this thing!
August 31, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Went back in my research files to find this gem:
Lee Corso delivering a talk on the importance of motivation at the 1972 meeting of the American Football Coaches Association.
Tons of exclamation points and some ALL CAPS. You can hear his voice in this thing!
Lee Corso delivering a talk on the importance of motivation at the 1972 meeting of the American Football Coaches Association.
Tons of exclamation points and some ALL CAPS. You can hear his voice in this thing!
This project has been a long time in the making.
Grateful to be a small part of it, and grateful for Jon Lauck’s tireless work reviving and restoring the study of Midwestern history.
Grateful to be a small part of it, and grateful for Jon Lauck’s tireless work reviving and restoring the study of Midwestern history.
July 10, 2025 at 1:34 AM
This project has been a long time in the making.
Grateful to be a small part of it, and grateful for Jon Lauck’s tireless work reviving and restoring the study of Midwestern history.
Grateful to be a small part of it, and grateful for Jon Lauck’s tireless work reviving and restoring the study of Midwestern history.
Father's Day gift idea for dads who are into sports, history, and Christianity
June 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Father's Day gift idea for dads who are into sports, history, and Christianity
First batch of summer reading is in. Basketball, American history, and Ecclesiastes—doesn’t get much better than that 📚
What’s on your list? What should I be adding?
What’s on your list? What should I be adding?
June 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
First batch of summer reading is in. Basketball, American history, and Ecclesiastes—doesn’t get much better than that 📚
What’s on your list? What should I be adding?
What’s on your list? What should I be adding?
Got my copy of @artremillard.bsky.social’s excellent and fascinating new book. Add this one to your summer reading lists!
My blurb: “a sweeping, must-read history of the many ways Americans have ascribed sacred meaning to sports.”
My blurb: “a sweeping, must-read history of the many ways Americans have ascribed sacred meaning to sports.”
June 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Got my copy of @artremillard.bsky.social’s excellent and fascinating new book. Add this one to your summer reading lists!
My blurb: “a sweeping, must-read history of the many ways Americans have ascribed sacred meaning to sports.”
My blurb: “a sweeping, must-read history of the many ways Americans have ascribed sacred meaning to sports.”
New review of my book in Practical Theology.
Deeply grateful for this assessment from Nick Watson, who has been a key voice in the field shaping my own work on sports and Christianity:
Deeply grateful for this assessment from Nick Watson, who has been a key voice in the field shaping my own work on sports and Christianity:
May 30, 2025 at 1:05 AM
New review of my book in Practical Theology.
Deeply grateful for this assessment from Nick Watson, who has been a key voice in the field shaping my own work on sports and Christianity:
Deeply grateful for this assessment from Nick Watson, who has been a key voice in the field shaping my own work on sports and Christianity:
The Indiana vs NYC clash of basketball cultures runs deep.
Here’s the Saturday Evening Post contrasting the two in 1941.
This was before the NBA even existed, and just two years after the NCAA Tournament was launched.
Here’s the Saturday Evening Post contrasting the two in 1941.
This was before the NBA even existed, and just two years after the NCAA Tournament was launched.
May 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
The Indiana vs NYC clash of basketball cultures runs deep.
Here’s the Saturday Evening Post contrasting the two in 1941.
This was before the NBA even existed, and just two years after the NCAA Tournament was launched.
Here’s the Saturday Evening Post contrasting the two in 1941.
This was before the NBA even existed, and just two years after the NCAA Tournament was launched.
For no reason at all, a reminder that the Dallas Mavericks were originally created to be the NBA’s first Christian team
www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/dall...
www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/dall...
May 13, 2025 at 12:22 AM
For no reason at all, a reminder that the Dallas Mavericks were originally created to be the NBA’s first Christian team
www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/dall...
www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/dall...
In 1936, the slam dunk was not a thing in basketball.
So when Joe Fortenberry showed up in NYC, jumping and throwing the ball down through the hoop, fans were shocked.
This is how the NY Times described the shot: a “reverse lay-up” like a “customer dunking a roll in coffee”
So when Joe Fortenberry showed up in NYC, jumping and throwing the ball down through the hoop, fans were shocked.
This is how the NY Times described the shot: a “reverse lay-up” like a “customer dunking a roll in coffee”
April 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
In 1936, the slam dunk was not a thing in basketball.
So when Joe Fortenberry showed up in NYC, jumping and throwing the ball down through the hoop, fans were shocked.
This is how the NY Times described the shot: a “reverse lay-up” like a “customer dunking a roll in coffee”
So when Joe Fortenberry showed up in NYC, jumping and throwing the ball down through the hoop, fans were shocked.
This is how the NY Times described the shot: a “reverse lay-up” like a “customer dunking a roll in coffee”
Did some work on my basketball book this weekend and I came across this “what if.”
In the 1930s a rules committee considered having players shoot their free throw from the spot they were fouled.
Understandably it was defeated in a landslide. But that rule would be fun!
In the 1930s a rules committee considered having players shoot their free throw from the spot they were fouled.
Understandably it was defeated in a landslide. But that rule would be fun!
April 21, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Did some work on my basketball book this weekend and I came across this “what if.”
In the 1930s a rules committee considered having players shoot their free throw from the spot they were fouled.
Understandably it was defeated in a landslide. But that rule would be fun!
In the 1930s a rules committee considered having players shoot their free throw from the spot they were fouled.
Understandably it was defeated in a landslide. But that rule would be fun!
Martin Luther King Jr. on Jackie Robinson:
A “freedom rider before the freedom rides” who “incessantly raises questions to sear America’s conscience.”
A “freedom rider before the freedom rides” who “incessantly raises questions to sear America’s conscience.”
April 16, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Martin Luther King Jr. on Jackie Robinson:
A “freedom rider before the freedom rides” who “incessantly raises questions to sear America’s conscience.”
A “freedom rider before the freedom rides” who “incessantly raises questions to sear America’s conscience.”
How do you know if a believer, or a church, is alive?
Look for the love.
Look for the love.
April 13, 2025 at 4:39 PM
How do you know if a believer, or a church, is alive?
Look for the love.
Look for the love.
Since reading Sabrina Little’s work, I’ve been more attuned to the everyday ways virtue is spoken about and highlighted in sports.
Here’s Kentucky coach Mark Pope praising Lamont Butler for the virtues of courage and love
Here’s Kentucky coach Mark Pope praising Lamont Butler for the virtues of courage and love
March 25, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Since reading Sabrina Little’s work, I’ve been more attuned to the everyday ways virtue is spoken about and highlighted in sports.
Here’s Kentucky coach Mark Pope praising Lamont Butler for the virtues of courage and love
Here’s Kentucky coach Mark Pope praising Lamont Butler for the virtues of courage and love
The book table at my church
March 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM
The book table at my church
Taking the 10 Commandments out of our public school system was a mistake
February 28, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Taking the 10 Commandments out of our public school system was a mistake