Let's fill in the gap on K.J. Osborn's NFL resume.
Osborn, a seven-year veteran best known for his time with the Minnesota Vikings, signed with the Tennessee Titans in April. He hasn't caught an NFL pass since Week 7 of the 2024 season. He hasn't been out of the league, per se. He spent time competing for a roster spot in Washington and had a stint with Atlanta's practice squad. But for a guy who caught 158 passes and 15 touchdowns from 2021-23, the fall felt shockingly steep, especially when there isn't an injury or off-field matter to point to.
So what brought Osborn to Nashville, where he's in the mix for a roster spot after a couple of standout performances in preseason practices and minicamp? In a sideways sense, the answer is ministry.
"When
people say they were called to ministry, I don’t know what that means. People say it," Osborn told The Tennessean. "My spiritual father named Tim Timberlake, the pastor at Celebration Church down in Jacksonville, him and a pastor in Atlanta named Philip Anthony Mitchell, they go on a podcast tour called the Street Preachers. I decided to just pop up to the first one in Dallas while I was a free agent and found a powerful movement of God.
"I found myself in rooms with the Holy Spirit and being able to do ministry. I just kept traveling with them as they continued on their tour stops and God was really moving."
Osborn's travels took him not only around the country, but also to mission trips in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Along with Timberlake, Osborn said he went on a pair of trips, one of which included a football camp for 800 kids. Osborn says he sponsored four children and still writes letters back and forth with them.
Most notably in Osborn's memory, he says he witnessed Timberlake perform what he believes to be a miracle.
"Sometimes God will move in a way," Osborn says. "Those people, they just need hope. It’s like ‘Oh, they’re doing this in America and they’re doing that. Lord, where are you?’ Sometimes you see God move differently. So we were at a conference. It was 5,000 plus people. My pastor was speaking actually on a Bible story when Jesus healed someone that was blind and he went around praying for people and different things like that and there was a baby who kind of had glossy eyes, head glazed, just staring at the ceiling. My pastor was praying and the Holy Spirit just used him. The kid received their sight and just started to look around and jumped into somebody’s arms."
Moments like these have helped Osborn cultivate a different perspective about football. He's still driven. He says he sincerely believes he's gotten better this offseason and can be the player he was in Minnesota again. He spent the offseason training with Titans teammates Elic Ayomanor and Wan'Dale Robinson. This is a player clawing back up.
But Osborn says his "performative anxiety" has melted away. The pressure to succeed doesn't weigh him down anymore. He's comfortable pouring his experience into younger players like Ayomanor, Chimere Dike and Carnell Tate. He believes in himself and he believes good things will happen.
In short, he says he's running routes in peace.
"Football is not a perfect game," Osborn says. "If you beat yourself up too much after a bad play and it weighs you down, that can be a bad thing mentally. It’s kind of helped me just be free and that’s where I’ve been playing my best football."
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: K.J. Osborn's journey from witnessing a blind baby's sight be restored to the Tennessee Titans
