Bryce Harper is a Mormon, but recently said he will tell people about his faith when asked, but he won't advocate it in the way that former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has throughout his career.
"If somebody asks me about it, I'll tell them about it, but I'm not going to be Mr. Tim Tebow," Harper told The Washington Post while saying he didn't mean it as a jab at Tebow.
The Nationals could have used some divine intervention this season; after winning 98 games in 2012 and winning the National League East division title for the first time since moving to D.C. from Montreal, the team fell flat in 2013. There were playoff aspirations coming into what was perceived by many to be a promising year for the Nats, but Washington (84-71) will finish second behind the Atlanta Braves (94-65) in the NL East this year.
Washington has also been eliminated from wildcard contention as the team enters the final weekend of the season six games out of the race.
Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy out of Florida during his sophomore season, is very vocal about his evangelical faith, but while Harper is committed to being a Mormon, he doesn't feel the need to let it be a topic of conversation unless people are curious about it.
While that may be true for Harper, The Washington Post reports that he inscribes "Luke: 17" on every autograph that the 21-year-old slugger writes. The scripture reads, "For with God, nothing shall be impossible."
Harper said he opted to play baseball rather than go on a Mormon mission at the urging of his mother.
"My mom always told me, 'You can touch a lot more lives playing baseball and doing good things than you would on a mission,'" Harper said, according to The Washington Post. "It's very true. Shoot, I'll tweet about God and get 1,500 retweets and it's like, that just went to 1,500 people or more."
Harper, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2012, had a fine sophomore season by turning in a .276 batting average thus far with 20 homers and 57 RBIs through 106 games with three remaining on the Nationals schedule. His average is up from last year's .270 mark, but his homers and RBIs fall just short of last year's total where he had 22 and 59, respectively.
Tebow, meanwhile sticks to being a poster child for his faith and is looking to continue his dream of being a quarterback in the NFL after the New England Patriots cut him out of the preseason. Tebow has turned down offers from outside organizations including a $1 million offer to play for in two games for a team in Russia. Some fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars have rallied for the team to sign Tebow, but nothing on that front has happened yet.
While Harper won't flaunt his religious faith the way Tebow does, the outfielder still says he'll try to be the best that he can be in accordance with his faith.
"I'm going to try to be the best person I can off the field [and promote my faith that way]," he told The Washington Post. "What I say is, 'I try to be the best walking Book of Mormon as I can.'"
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