WASHINGTON — Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner has opened up about how God helped him overcome adversities early in his life and even put a dream in his heart after his parents’ divorce, which led him all the way to the NFL.
Speaking to a crowd of Christian conservative activists at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference at the Washington Hilton on Friday, Turner, who is also a megachurch pastor, stressed that he has “experienced trials and tribulations” throughout his life.
“I’ve gone through a lot of challenges in my life that could have broken me, that could have sidelined me, that could have destroyed me, and if I did not have my faith in Christ, I would not … be standing before you this morning,” he said.
“Jesus said, ‘You know what? Don’t worry about the trials and tribulation,” Turner said. “I’ve already [overcome] death and Hell.'”
Turner, an associate pastor at the multi-campus Prestonwood Church in Texas, detailed a spiritual experience that occurred around the time his parents divorced when he was 10.
“As I saw this devastating breakup of my family, God dropped a dream in my heart, and if I did not have faith in him, if my mama didn’t encourage me to love Jesus, I could have easily given up on that day,” Turner said.
“Instead of giving up on that day when God dropped that dream in my heart, I looked at my mom, and I said, ‘One day I’m going to play in the NFL, and I’ll take care of you,'” he recalled. “It was that dream and that vision that kept me in my faith in God, and I trusted him and I persevered over the following years through difficulty and hardship, through moments when it seemed like my dreams would collapse around me.”
Turner grew up to play college football at the University of Illinois before playing nearly a decade as a defensive back in the National Football League, where he played for three teams (Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos). He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Redskins.
Although he was a defensive player, one of the highlights of his professional football career was a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown in 2000.
“I felt forgotten and on the sidelines when all of my teammates in college received an invitation to the NFL combine, but my invitation never came,” Turner recalled.
During that time, he was “waiting, trusting the Lord, persevering, [and] keeping my eyes stayed on him.”
“It all paid off, and by his mercy and by his providence, he saw me through a blessed nine-year career in the NFL, a stint in the House of Representatives in Texas as a state legislator, a pastor in the pulpits across America, and now standing before you as a secretary of Housing and Urban Development,” Turner, 53, said.
The athlete-turned-politician characterized his life’s hardships as “times of preparation that God used to make me who He wanted me to be.”
“I stand before you today as a humble young man, as a result of God’s grace,” he stressed.
He said his life is possible “only because of [God’s] grace and His mercy, because of hard work and faith in Him, not through dependence on the government and the taxpayer.”
“It’s that sort of attitude, faith in God, and hard work we want to promote every day,” Turner added, referring to the philosophy that underpins his leadership of HUD.
The Faith & Freedom Coalition held the first full day of programming at the 2025 Road to Majority Conference on Friday. The gathering features speeches from members of the Trump administration, governors of U.S. states and prominent faith leaders.
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Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
