July 11, 2025

Basketball star Gordon Hayward now takes his best shot for ‘the glory of God’

Robyn and Gordon Hayward pose for a photo in the Sistine Chapel during the Jubilee of Sport weekend at the Vatican on June 14-15. (Submitted photo)

Robyn and Gordon Hayward pose for a photo in the Sistine Chapel during the Jubilee of Sport weekend at the Vatican on June 14-15. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

Gordon Hayward hit the game-winning shot just before the buzzer in a state championship game, leading Brownsburg High School to Indiana’s Class 4A boys’ title in 2008.

He was also a key member of the men’s basketball team of Butler University in Indianapolis in their thrilling run to the national championship game of the NCAA tournament in 2010—where his last second, half-court heave came ever so close to winning the national title.

And for the next 14 years, Hayward played in the National Basketball Association, earning an All-Star selection along the way, before retiring in 2024.

There have also been the personal highlights for the now-35-year-old Hayward—his marriage to Robyn Van Vliet, a 2013 graduate of Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis and a former member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis; the births of their four children, with another child due to join the family in September; and his decision to enter into full communion of the Catholic Church during a Mass in Rome last fall.

And more recently, Hayward accepted a “once-in-lifetime” invitation from the Vatican to share his experiences as an athlete in the Jubilee of Sport led by Pope Leo XIV on June 14-15.

In a phone conversation with The Criterion from his home in Charlotte, N.C., Hayward shared his thoughts about his participation in the Jubilee of Sport, his decision to become Catholic, and the way that choice has impacted his life as a father and a husband.

He also talked about the powerful impact of the Eucharist on him while focusing on the people who have shared in his life-changing faith journey.

Here is a slightly edited transcript of that conversation.
 

Q. How did you come to participate in the Jubilee of Sport at the Vatican?

A. “I think the Vatican might have seen my conversion story, and they reached out to the priest who helped me convert—Father ‘T’ [Father Marcel Taillon, the former director of vocations for the Archdiocese for the Military Services in the United States]. They asked him to ask me if I would want to participate. I felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I couldn’t turn it down.”
 

Q. What did you share during the Jubilee about your experience in sports?

A. “The event was about sports and hope—and what’s really important beyond the game, and also the way sports connect people. I was asked, ‘What would you tell kids these days who are aspiring to be a professional athlete?’

“I basically said that first you have to start with a big dream. You have to envision something big and set your goals high and aim high. You have to be passionate about something. Usually as a kid, that starts with a dream. And my dream was to play in the NBA, even though I probably never thought it was possible.

“But then I said the second thing that is often overlooked is to try not to put so much pressure on yourself. Especially nowadays with social media and all the information that’s instantly available, you can put so much pressure on yourself, and I certainly did that throughout my career.

“You put internal pressure on yourself, which I think is good because it means you care. However, it’s not good if it’s starting to really affect who you are as a person, and you’re not able to sleep, and you’re constantly thinking about it.

“The thing that helped me was realizing not to be as worried about what other people think or worried about making mistakes or worried about failing. Because at the end of the day there’s only one judge and that’s Jesus. And he died for our sins, and so we’re all saved. From that standpoint, we’re all good.

“This little competition that you think is such a big deal—not to downplay how important it is, I think it is important—but as long as you realize that you’re competing and trying to do your best for the glory of God, to me it took some of the pressure off. So that was kind of my message.”
 

Q. On your trip to the Jubilee of Sport, you had a group with you—Robyn, her siblings, George, Max and Maggie Van Vliet, your sister and her husband, Heather and Brett Hartnagel, and friends, Scott and Kelly Kaiser, and Father Taillon. What else stood out to you and the group about the trip?

A. “The big one was that we had the opportunity to meet with the pope, our first American pope. That was really exciting, a chance to meet and interact with him. Probably just for 15 seconds. It wasn’t that long. And he [celebrated] the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. We were right up front, really close to him. That was incredible.

“We also got a private tour of the Sistine Chapel. Again, that was amazing. I’ve been in the Sistine Chapel once before, and usually there’s no photos, and you’re shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of other people for two to three minutes, and then they rush you out. We had access. We could take photos. It was so quiet and beautiful. And to think about how the cardinals were all in that place selecting the next pope just a mere 30 days prior—that was a really unique and cool experience.

“Two other things were cool. The [Pontifical] North American College [NAC] is right there in Rome. Father T studied there. We were able to go there and get a tour. We sat on the roof top and smoked a cigar, had some fellowship and drank some wine. It’s one of the best views of Rome there.

“The next morning, we went to the original NAC. Father T celebrated Mass at the beautiful chapel. They had a plaque inside the chapel that showed all the American bishops who were consecrated in that chapel, and about the third one down was Bishop [Silas] Chatard, [a former bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis]. That was really cool because we had some Chatard people in our group. In 1878, he was consecrated in that chapel.”
 

Q. During your seasons as a player with the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla— an assistant coach back then and now head coach of the team—gave you the book, The Eucharist Is Really Jesus. Talk about the impact the book had on you in terms of wanting to join the Catholic Church.

A. “That book was probably the book that made me decide, ‘OK, I think I’ve been missing out this whole time.’ That book was really influential for me. I grew up Lutheran. We were more that it’s not really the body and blood. And when you read that book, you realize how much you’re missing out. I was not taking Jesus in every week. And so, when you read it and realize, ‘Hold on, I could be doing this every week,’ it’s kind of like, ‘I need to have it now.’ ”
 

Q. No doubt you’ve had the influence of Robyn and her family in your life of faith, but friends can also make a difference. Talk about the influence of Joe Mazzulla for you.

A. “Joe has just been a great friend. It’s not like we talk all the time because he’s super busy now as the head coach. But we became much closer during COVID. We were in Boston, and it was kind of like a lockdown. We quarantined together with him and his family.

“As an assistant coach, he was there for me outside of basketball and with basketball. He has such a strong will. He was extremely influential because there were lots of times on the road when we had a cigar, and you just start talking about things outside of the game. You want to talk about anything but basketball. And he was obviously a devout Catholic. A lot of times we would talk about that type of stuff. So, I’m just grateful for him. It’s just being there as a friend and a man.”
 

Q. Talk about Father T and his influence on helping you become Catholic.

A. “I met him through Joe. Father T was his childhood priest. Joe connected me after I retired because I wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith before I decided I wanted to become Catholic.

“We had Zoom lessons for probably three months. Then he was part of the group that confirmed me in Rome. We’ve continued our relationship. He’s just been a great person to answer all my questions, and he’s someone who could love and support me—someone I could build a great relationship with.”
 

Q. Robyn’s brother, Max, was your sponsor. How did he become part of your journey to be Catholic?

A. “Same type of thing as Joe, but probably more so because I was around him more. Not pushy at all about joining the Catholic faith, but just a great person—we’re hanging out, we’re having some drinks, we’re smoking a cigar, and we start talking about Catholicism and Christianity. He was also a sounding board for my questions. And by example, he’s a really good Catholic, and he tries to do all the right things. All those things were part of the reason he was such a great sponsor.”
 

Q. You obviously enjoy a good cigar.

A. “I do. I do.”
 

Q. The Latin phrase, Nunc Coepi, “Now I begin” in English, has been important to you as an athlete and as a Catholic. It’s a phrase you heard from fellow Catholic and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers. Talk about how its importance for you started in basketball and has evolved to be important in your faith.

A. “That was at a point in time when it was the hardest part of my basketball career—being injured and having to sit on the sideline, in 2017-18. Seeing Philip talk about that phrase and what that meant to him was really inspirational to me. So, I started wearing it on my wrist, just as a re-set. You get caught thinking about, dissecting and analyzing every play that goes on in your mind that you did wrong, and it’s a chance to just give yourself a re-set. ‘Now I begin’, and let’s start over.

“It applies not only to sports but faith as well.”
 

Q. Since you became a Catholic, do you see that making a difference for you as a husband, a father, a person?

A. “I’m just striving every day to try to be a better leader from a religious standpoint. It’s one of the jobs of a husband, and it’s something I probably don’t do the best job of. Our kids have gone to Catholic school. And Robyn and I have been married now 11 years, and we’ve gone to Mass since day one. I just never partook of the Eucharist.

“When Robyn and our kids would go up to receive the Eucharist, I’d sit back in the pew. So, I think just going up there with them and partaking was a big deal. Showing and doing it with them are huge. From that standpoint, it’s helped me be a better father. But there’s certainly so much more I could be doing and should be doing. And I’m trying to do that all the time.”
 

Q. You chose the confirmation name Sebastian. Talk about that choice.

A. “The obvious reason is that he’s the patron saint of athletes and the military. I have a lot of connections to those. Max also got me a book about St. Sebastian. I love his story. Talk about perseverance. I think I related a little bit, obviously not getting shot by arrows, but being down and out and still fighting through it. I think that really resonated.”
 

Q. How would you describe your relationship with Christ at this point?

A. “It’s probably never been better than it is now. It’s interesting. I grew up in a very Christian household. We were Lutheran. We went to church all the time. My mom and dad have been instrumental in that for me, so it’s not like I’m going from a place where I wasn’t at all and now I am. However, I think I was kind of just going through the motions with Robyn. And also again, I wasn’t partaking in the Eucharist. And so, now that I am, it feels like I’m in a better place now than I ever have been.”
 

Q. Since you’ve retired from basketball, talk about making the transition from professional athlete to businessperson for you.

A. “It’s something that all professional athletes go through. You have a little bit of an identity crisis, and you try to figure out what you want to do next. My whole life has been preparing or training for something. And then you retire at 34, and it’s like, ‘Now what?’ Thankfully, I have the family that I do, so I didn’t have that too much. Because now I just get to follow my kids around. And that’s a full-time job of itself. But then doing the business side stuff has been fun.

“We’ve released a shooting tool called ‘FORM’, which has really been cool. It gives you a foundation for shooting a basketball. And I also released a movie last fall. So, it’s been fun doing these different projects. It was at a time in my life when I needed something to get me off of thinking about the game of basketball and at least start in a different direction.

“The film is called Notice to Quit. It was released in 300-some theaters last fall, and now you can rent it on Amazon or Apple. It’s a family movie about a deadbeat dad and his daughter. The theme is realizing what’s really important in life. And a lot of times that’s family.”
 

Q. One final question. What’s it like for you to receive the Eucharist now?

A. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s a chance to have Jesus with you. I know he’s with you all the time but to really consume him—I leave church every week happier. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s an amazing feeling.” †

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