Houston Texans running back Arian Foster is an atheist.

The 28-year-old opened up to ESPN The Magazine about the difficulties of not believing in God while playing in a league in which many players identify as people of faith.

From ESPN The Magazine:

“I get the devil-worship thing a lot. They’ll ask me, ‘You worship the devil?'” he says. “‘No, bro, I don’t believe there’s a God, why would I believe there’s a devil?’ There’s a lot of ignorance about nonbelief. I don’t mean a negative connotation of ignorance. I just mean a lack of understanding, a lack of knowledge, lack of exposure to people like me.”

He also encouraged others to be themselves.

“Everybody always says the same thing: You have to have faith,” he says. “That’s my whole thing: Faith isn’t enough for me. For people who are struggling with that, they’re nervous about telling their families or afraid of the backlash … man, don’t be afraid to be you. I was, for years.”

(Thanks to ESPN The Magazine for sharing.)