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Some footy fans have voiced their shock while others have praised AFL legend Gary Ablett Jr for his gushing post about Charlie Kirk in the wake of the American influencer's fatal shooting.
The former Geelong and Gold Coast star posted a series of tributes to Kirk on his Instagram story on Monday night, thanking Jesus for the conservative activist and applauding him for spreading Christianity.
Ablett re-posted videos made by US pastor Cliffe Knechtle, who thanked Kirk for upholding the 'Judeo Christian ethic'.
'Thank you so much Lord Jesus that he's enjoying your presence like never before,' Knechtle said in one clip.
Other videos Ablett posted featured footage of Kirk with his wife and family, as well as Kirk saying 'Jesus saved my life' as he debated a man who called his dedication to Christianity into question.
Despite the fact Ablett has been very open about his Christian beliefs, many footy fans were taken aback by his posts.
Gary Ablett Jr (pictured with wife Jordan) has put up gushing posts about Charlie Kirk after he was shot dead last week
Ablett shared a video by an American pastor who praised Kirk for his dedication to Christ
Ablett, like Kirk, is outspoken about his devout Christianity
'Really disappointed, but like, not surprised,' one wrote on X.
'Somebody needs to do a study on whether footy players are like this because of footy or if they were like that anyway. As in right leaning,' another commented.
'Don't remember anywhere in the Bible where Jesus spoke about hating on minority groups but yeah, "faith",' added a third.
One commenter wrote 'CTE' in order to put Ablett's posts down to the deadly brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has been found to have affected AFL stars Shane Tuck and Adam Hunter after their tragic deaths.
Others simply commented 'ew' and 'so gross', with another writing, 'Gary Ablett jr's Instagram story proves why you should never meet your heroes.'
However, other footy fans rushed to defend the 41-year-old and his views.
'Breaking news, a Christian man shares another Christian man’s clips talking about religion,' one wrote on X.
'Gary Ablett junior is one of the great people that all kids should aspire to be like, a true gentleman. You might have a different opinion, but criticising people who have a different perspective than your own is why more are now leaning right and appears to be the lefts undoing,' another added.
Many commenters were taken aback by the praise Ablett had for the conservative activist
Pictured: One of the comments voicing shock at Ablett's Instagram story
Some commenters were taken aback at the former Geelong star's stance on Kirk
However, others backed the AFL legend to the hilt
'Rather this than people celebrating,' said another commenter.
Many others wrote that Ablett's stance on Kirk and Christianity is 'not at all surprising' given the former star's outspoken religious beliefs.
Ablett – whose father Gary senior is also a devout Christian – revealed he reached a turning point in his deeply religious beliefs when he was just starting out in the AFL.
He was 21 when he prayed to God for guidance when he was 'really struggling', woke up and saw three religious TV shows in a moment he regarded as divine intervention.
'That night, as my simple prayer was answered, the series of events led me to truly believe that God was speaking directly to me,' he revealed.
'It was transformational and became a real turning point in my life.'
In 2019, Ablett Junior was spoken to by his Geelong club after he liked former Wallabies star Israel Folau's controversial post saying that hell awaited 'drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators'.
'I want to make it clear that I love ALL people regardless of race, religion, gender or sexuality,' Ablett explained.
'I have always admired how strong Izzy is in his faith, it is not easy to share faith in the public sphere, and this is why I initially 'liked' his post.
'I understand that liking this post appeared offensive and this is why I chose to remove my 'like' from the post.'
