“We just start praying,” Whiteside said. “First we thank God for what he’s done for us, then we praise him. This time, Jordan just felt overwhelmed.”
That would be fellow defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, who during the group’s weekly pregame prayer before the Tigers’ last game against South Carolina told his teammate he was ready. Elliott wanted to be baptized.
Whiteside would officiate, but there was a problem. On a Friday night, not long before bed check, where do you find a body of water to submerge a 6-foot-4, 315-pound man? Whiteside was baptized in a lake back in May.