Eagles QB Tanner McKee’s Latter-day Saint Mission to Brazil Featured on NBC’s Sunday Night Football

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles’ game against the Washington Commanders highlighted Latter-day Saint missions on Sunday. During the second quarter, while Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee huddled with teammates, photos of his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appeared on the broadcast. The photos were taken for a 2019 Deseret News story.

Play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico discussed McKee’s service in Brazil and his study of Portuguese. Tirico referred to the church as “the church of Latter-day Saints,” and said that while covering BYU he had learned that missionary service “touches so many players.”

As a photo showed McKee holding a football on a bus from Paranaguá to Curitiba, Brazil, Tirico said a missionary “may get one day a week to throw it and do some football, athletic stuff.” He added, “The rest of the days, you’re spreading the word, following your religion.” Tirico described missions as something that “lay the spiritual foundation that you can lean into through challenges that come in life.” Tirico’s comment that most of a missionary’s days are spent teaching rather than playing football shows a calling set apart from the game itself (Colossians 3:23).

In the 2019 photo caption, McKee said that serving a mission “will help me improve my game at a higher level for sure.” He also said that as a missionary he was “trying to help the people that we’re teaching to reach their full potential.”

McKee, drafted in the sixth round out of Stanford, entered the 2026 season as the Eagles’ third-string quarterback behind starter Jalen Hurts and backup Andy Dalton. According to USA Today, Hurts was diagnosed with pulmonary emboli and placed on injured reserve. The Eagles released Dalton roughly a week before Hurts was added to injured reserve. McKee has started the last three games in Hurts’ absence, and the Eagles have lost all three, including the game against the Commanders. In those losses, he has completed 72 of 114 passes for 638 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters on Monday, according to NBC Sports, that the Eagles are sticking with McKee as their starter. “Tanner’s our guy. We’re not making any changes there,” Sirianni said.

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