Most people would be content to identify one thing that they’re passionate about and really good at. But Hunter Smith isn’t most people. His “day job”: Punting for one of the NFL’s perennial powerhouse franchises, the Indianapolis Colts.
When he’s not pounding the pigskin into the upper reaches of the RCA Dome’s Astroturf, however, Hunter has another passion: music. Not only does he help lead worship at Indianapolis’ Every Nation Church; he’s one half of the acoustic rock band Connersvine along with partner Chris Wilson.
Hunter and Chris began playing together in 2001 as they co-led worship for a young-adult ministry. That partnership eventually grew into Connersvine, and the band released its first self-titled effort earlier this year on INO Records.
Pro football player. Christian musician. These aren’t two occupations you’d naturally expect to fit together well. But as we found out when we talked with Hunter Smith earlier this year, he believes God has equipped and called him into these two remarkably different pursuits.
Breakaway: Hunter, we don’t want to stereotype too much, but most people might think being a musician and being an athlete would be mutually exclusive activities. How did you develop an interest in both?
Hunter Smith: For starters, I had wonderful parents. My mom and my dad both worked in the same church. For doctrinal reasons, we didn’t use instruments to accompany our worship. So we sang a lot. Everyone had to learn multiple parts. Growing up, we learned how to sing—and sing loud! A bit later on, I picked up a couple of instruments and started writing my own songs. I always thought I’d do something with music at some point, because I’m very artistic.
What about the football side of the equation?
I love music, but I also had a quite a bit of gifting athletically, even though I’m not tremendously competitive by nature. It’s kind of a strange combination. Playing ball when I was younger, I always looked around and said, “Well, I am bigger than everybody else. I’m faster. I’m stronger … “
You are big . . .
Yeah, it sort of seemed like, “Well, if this keeps up, I’ll probably be one of the better players when I’m 22 ,” or whatever.
What role did your parents play in encouraging those athletic talents?
My dad loves football, because we grew up north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. So you might think he would have been very pushy and tried to live vicariously through me. Dad definitely saw my athletic gifts. But he was never pushy. He truly let all of us kids do what we wanted to do. Whatever our passion was, he encouraged us to go do it. There was a point in my teens where it started to look like an athletic career might happen, and he guided me appropriately.
And you eventually ended up playing football at Notre Dame. Can you tell us a bit about the decision to go there?
I was recruited by several schools, but most of them were in the South. Notre Dame came into the mix later. It was interesting, because I’d had a dream about going to Notre Dame when I was a sophomore in high school. But nothing happened with Notre Dame until later in the recruiting process. It’s funny, because when I visited the campus, I couldn’t stand it. It was freezing cold, and there was snow on the ground. But I just had that peace about the decision. When I committed to Notre Dame, I knew it was the place.
You went on to sign with the Indianapolis Colts in 1999 and were a part of the team that won Super Bowl LXI in 2007. You’ve probably been asked every question under the sun when it comes to the Super Bowl. But is there something unique, something maybe most people don’t know about the Super Bowl that you can share with Breakaway readers?
I think most people would be surprised to find out just how quiet the game actually is, because the stadium is full of people who aren’t necessarily diehard Indy Colts fans or Chicago Bears fans. We ran out on the field, and it was very much like, ‘Wow,’ because of how quiet it was. It wasn’t a disappointment, per se, but it was just different. And more camera flashes than you’ve ever seen. But I guess at the end of the day, once you get out on the field, it’s just another football game. You realize that even though it seems bigger than life, and there’s a circus of media attention going on all around us, it’s still just a ball game.
Switching gears a bit, one of the songs that stands out on your debut album, Connersvine, is “Hero.” Can you talk about what this song is about and what inspired you to write it?
On Mother’s Day a couple years ago, my wife asked me to write a song for our son, Josiah. I told her I would. He was still just an infant, and I thought I’d sit down and write it in a week or so. But it ended up taking a year! Chris Wilson doesn’t have any children, so it was really up to me to ask God for lyrics for the song. I probably wrote three different versions, and had pages of lyrics on the computer. As I wrote, I’d bring the lyrics to Chris to see what he thought. He’d help me kind of comb through them.
The song is about modeling a life of faith for your son. Tell us a little bit more about the lyrics and why they mean so much to you.
The chorus says, “I’ll be the guard of your honor somehow/I’ll show you love laid down/I’ll be your hero.” I can’t be with my son through all of life’s highs and lows. I can’t keep him from pain, nor should I. And I can’t guard against every temptation he’ll face. But I do want to be his hero and model Christ for him. I want him to be able to look at me and say, “I want to be like my dad.” Fatherhood is really an epic calling in that sense.
Speaking of calling, what advice would you give our readers about the big decisions they’ll make in the future, such as college, work and relationships?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the most important thing for us to do is this: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). So I would say that no matter what you’re considering, the most important thing is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). Truly seeking first the kingdom of God is the best advice I could give someone.
What would you say that looks like on a day-to-day basis?
Well, practically speaking, I think it means giving your life to the church. Serving the church, getting involved in the things of God, loving Him, worshipping Him and living a holy life. It also requires taking idolatry seriously. This year has been really eye-opening for me, because I’m realizing that idolatry is just as real today as it was in the Old Testament. Our idols today are just different.
Say more about what you mean by that.
Well, we don’t necessarily make idols out of gold or in the form of a calf, like in Moses’ day. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have idols. Our idols have to do with earthly institutions and values: finances, security, comfort, stuff like that. This year, God put his finger on some different things in my life, idols that I’d been clinging to and worshipping. They can even be things we thought were good, like my status as a Christian athlete. I realized that even the platform God has given me as a Christian athlete can become an idol, you know what I’m saying?
It seems like being a professional athlete, it would be easy to make sports an idol, too, especially if you’re on a championship-caliber teams.
Sports are great, and they can be an important part of our lives. But for many pro football players, the game becomes the only thing that they’re living for. And when careers come to an end, it’s pretty hard for many players. Did you know that 78 percent of NFL football players are divorced, bankrupt or contemplating suicide within two years of retirement? It doesn’t matter for these guys how pretty their wives are, how great their career was.
Wow. That’s a pretty amazing statistic.
I have a theory on why that’s the case. It’s because in our time, people in general and athletes in particular have had to focus on this one thing for their entire lives in order to get to this level. Once it’s over, they have nothing else to do. These men may have other talents but never get to develop them because they’re completely consumed with one thing. When it’s over, they’re discontent, so they abandon their wives. They have no idea how to manage their finances, and many are quickly bankrupt. For some, they see no reason to live and begin contemplating suicide.
How do you deal with the temptation to find your identity in what you’re doing?
Even though I have two careers as an athlete and a musician, I still have to keep putting God first. He is so much bigger than a game, a team, a song or an album. The world is trying to manipulate us into wasting our lives on things that don’t really matter, on consuming its stuff, on spending our money and our time on anything but God. But no amount of achievement or short-term fulfillment is going to last forever. So ultimately all that matters is serving Christ and loving Him. The most important thing, no matter if you’re going to be an electrician or a doctor or a professional athlete, is to anchor your life in Christ.
Was your passion for God always this strong, or was there a moment when you really committed yourself to following Him wholeheartedly?
As a teen, I did some things that I shouldn’t have been doing. I’m heartbroken about that, and I wish I had a better testimony with regard to those years. Thankfully, when I was 21 a man confronted me about my life. He shined a light into my life and talked about the fear of the Lord. I was never the same. A complete change of heart. It was the same thing I talked about earlier: Give everything to God, and seek the Lord first.
Given those mistakes from your earlier teen years, is there anything you’ve learned that you might pass along to our readers?
I think my conscience was probably seared by some of my choices. As a result, I was pretty confused when it came to sexual purity, lust, masturbation and all of that. When we’re young, I think we have a hard time seeing the consequences and the big picture when it comes to sexual sin. But it won’t just handicap you; it will control you. It will take away your desire to live. It’s a crippling force. It’s not just a little fun on the side that doesn’t have any lasting effects.
Any final thoughts for our Breakaway guys?
I think all of us need to have our eyes opened to the giganticness of who God is and the awe-inspiring glory of His identity. The fact that a God who is so vast would send His Son in the form of a human being for our sake is both humbling and a story of great beauty. 
