In recent years the Detroit Lions have been known for futility, finishing each of the last six seasons with 10 or more losses. So it was a bit surprising to hear Lions quarterback Jon Kitna boldly predict last spring that his team would win 10 games this year. So far, the Lions have already matched last season’s victory total of three, and Kitna, who’s tossed 15 TD passes in his last seven games, deserves a lot of credit for the team’s early success.

But it’s not just the 35-year-old QB’s strong performance that’s attracting attention. His strong Christian beliefs has even ESPN The Magazine “wondering just what the Almighty is up to in Motown”:

Like many athletes who are outspoken about something as personal as faith, Kitna — with his ubiquitous cross hats and constant biblical references — is often dismissed as a loon. But his impact in Detroit is undeniable. He is part of a team prayer group on Friday afternoons and hosts a Bible study for teammates and their wives at his home on Monday nights.

Since he signed a four-year, $11.5 million deal in March 2006, about 20 Lions have given their lives to Christ. Teammates, converted or not, credit Kitna — and, in part, this religious awakening — with helping change the previously poisonous attitude in the Lions’ locker room. Says [Lions backup QB Dan] Orlovsky, “He is the pulse and the heart and the soul of this team.”

By combining two of the most fervent elements of society — faith and football — a previously anonymous journeyman quarterback has catapulted himself into the zeitgeist.

On Sunday, Kitna and his crew will take on the 4-2 Tampa Bay Bucs at Detroit’s Ford Field.