Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka made quite the impression on the NFL stage in his rookie year in 2025.

But the Ohio State product doesn’t just think it’s his purpose to help his team reach its Super Bowl goals — preaching his faith is high on his priority list as well.

Like many in the NFL, Egbuka uses his platform on the professional level to share his Christian faith, something he said he found five years ago at a point in his life where he needed it.

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Emeka Egbuka of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks the field before an NFL game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 3, 2026. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Today, if you go to his Instagram page, you’ll see his name is “Christ Follower,” and he explained to Fox News Digital how his faith drives him on and off the field.

“To put it simply, it’s such a big part of my life because of what Jesus has done in my life, and I know that he offers the same for every single person,” Egbuka said over Zoom after helping USAA with its “Huddle UP For Hurricane Prep” by building disaster kits and educating his fellow Tampa Bay citizens about hurricane safeguarding.

“He kinda met me where I was five years ago now, which seems crazy to say. I’ve been walking with Him ever since.

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Five years ago, Egbuka was just a freshman at Ohio State, hoping to make an impact for the Buckeyes. As he continued to grow across three more years of college football, he ended up helping the Buckeyes win a national championship during the 2024 season.

At the same time, he said he started to find “peace” and “joy” with his faith and God, which he feels still today.

“The sense of identity that I have that I didn’t have before. There’s a lot of things in my life and a lot of ways I was battling mentally that He pulled me out of,” Egbuka explained. “That’s stuff that goes unnoticed. That’s stuff behind the curtains that people don’t see every day because we put on these masks, put on these faces [and] facades.

Emeka Egbuka #2 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks off the field after defeating the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 3, 2026. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

“But deep down, everybody deals with stuff. It’s life. It’s tries all of us. There’s trials and tribulations that come every single day, and we can do our best to stand true and hold strong. At the end of the day, we’re human. We can only do so much to hold ourselves up when it comes to a point we make it to the end of ourselves – that’s where I was when God met me.

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“Just being able to preach about Him, use my platform to spread the Gospel. Just the hope that there is in Jesus is what I feel my purpose is.”

Entering the NFL community, Egbuka noticed others like Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins and many more sharing their faith as well.

“I think it’s a blessing and privilege that we have to be able to be so open,” Egbuka added. “Obviously, it didn’t always be like that, but even nowadays in different countries, you can be murdered and killed for professing your faith and everything like that. We’re just in a society and culture that we’re able to share that openly without any hostility or backlash at us. I think it’s a huge privilege we have to be able to share our platform and use it to spread the Gospel.”

Another way Egbuka uses his platform is impacting his community like he did on Tuesday at the USAA Tampa Office, where he focused some of his offseason efforts on bringing awareness to hurricane preparation for an area susceptible to such natural disasters.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka surrounded by USAA volunteers creating hurricane disaster kits ahead of hurricane season in Florida. (USAA)

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“This isn’t my first time working with USAA, so I’m glad to be partnering with them again,” he said. “Just such a great staff and everybody who works here. They’ve been so hospitable to me and my team, and obviously it hits close to home. I have a grandfather who was a Navy SEAL, father who was an active duty soldier for a while and now works at the Department of Defense as a civil engineer. Definitely been surrounded by the military my entire life.

“Some of the disaster kits we made today, they have the whistles, the safety blankets – anything you might need when a disaster strikes. That’s what we were focused on doing today. There’s nothing we can do to prevent a hurricane from happening. Obviously, staying on top of the weather and paying attention to the alerts and everything like that. I know my house came with hurricane shutters and everything to stay on top of that. Really just trying to do our best to be proactive with it, and I think those kits we made today will go a long way.”

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Tea Brewing is a mechanic in Bridger Western that can be used to apply a variety of passive stat bonuses to your avatar. This mechanic involves interacting with kettles in campsites and using the leaves collected from the game world to brew tea. The bonuses you receive depend on the leaves used in the brewing process, ranging from simple damage increases to HP restoration and regeneration.

This guide provides you with a complete overview of the Tea Brewing system in Bridger Western.

An overview of Tea Brewing in Bridger Western

The purpose of Tea Brewing is to give you access to craftable consumables. You can craft a variety of teas, each of which applies a unique buff effect for a limited duration. In addition to these passive effects, the tea you brew can synergize with the Tea Time and FAUX: Tea Time Cards as well, enhancing their respective effects.

To brew tea, you can venture out into the open world and look for campsites. These campsites include kettles, interacting with which gives you the brewing option. Equip an eligible plant from your inventory to start the brewing process and boil it in the kettle. Once boiled, interact with the kettle to store tea as a consumable item.

As of Update 1.7, the game features five types of tea leaves, the effects of which are listed below:

• Deerheart Root: Brews Invigorating Tea. Minor HP restoration and slight HP regeneration.
• Hawkeye Herb: Brews Clarifying Tea. Increases firearm accuracy.
• Hellfire Sprout: Brews Spicy Tea. Slight speed boost; costs 10% of your HP as DoT upon consumption.
• Reservoir Root: Brews Refreshing Tea. Restores 40% stamina.
• Turtleshell Stem: Brews Toughening Tea. Reduces damage received.

Deerheart Root, Hawkeye Herb, and Turtleshell Stem can be found in the grassy areas, while the Reservoir Root and Hellfire Sprout are found in the desert. To pick one up, approach the plant and interact with it to store it in your inventory. Note that you may also dig up Dogbane Herb upon doing so, which cannot be brewed into a tea. Instead, it can be given to the Mud Witch for various useful effects.

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FAQs on Bridger Western

How do I brew tea in Bridger Western?

With a tea-eligible plant equipped, interact with a kettle at a campsite to brew tea.

What does tea do?

Tea applies a variety of limited-time stat bonuses to your avatar.

Which tea is the best for Weapon-focused builds?

Clarifying Tea, a tea brewed using the Hawkeye Herb, improves firearm accuracy, making it the best for Weapon-focused builds.