Is a breakout season on the horizon for Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta? If it is, what took place at the Vatican might just be the spark, as he and his wife, Callahan, were recently blessed by Pope Leo XIV himself. Although the Pope is famously a Chicago White Sox supporter, he clearly didn’t mind sharing a moment with a key player from one of the Chicago Bears’ NFC North rivals.

“Thank you to a very busy man for blessing me and my bride. A special moment we’ll never forget catholic popeleoxiv catholicismrocks,” LaPorta wrote in an Instagram post, showing photos of him and his wife receiving a blessing from the American pope.

LaPorta is coming off a slower 2024 campaign, finishing with 726 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 60 catches from 83 targets across 16 contests.

Though not terrible, those stats were a dip from his standout 2023 rookie year, where he logged 889 yards and an impressive 10 touchdowns on 86 catches and 120 targets.

A smaller workload due to Detroit’s many offensive weapons limited his numbers, but the 2025 campaign presents new promise for the former Iowa Hawkeye.

Meanwhile, LaPorta’s post has fans in a frenzy over his brief encounter with the pope overseas.

“LaGoata now got blessed by the Pope. He’s about to break records”

Another posted: “My tight end was blessed by the Pope—he’s going for 1,500 yards”

One commenter said: “That’s it. The Pope blessed our TE1—All-Pro season loading”

“He’s praying you stop wrecking his Bears whenever you face them.”

Another added: “Gotta frame this one in St. Paul’s man lol”

Someone else chimed in: “Unreal bro, may God bless you both”