GREEN BAY -- They don't come more earnest than Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, whose intense Christian faith and gift of gab are simply facts of life in the Green Bay Packers' locker room.

So when the veteran defensive end went to Mike McCarthy this offseason and asked to address the team before one of its organized team activity practices, the coach had only one reservation.

"He said, 'How long is it going to take?' Because everybody thinks I talk a lot," Gbaja-Biamila said Thursday. "I don't know why they think that."

Nevertheless, Gbaja-Biamila made his pitch, showing McCarthy a clip from a 2006 religious film he'd recently seen. In what the Los Angeles Times called a "sweet, sincere" movie -- much like Gbaja-Biamila himself -- a perenially losing high-school football team overcomes the odds through faith and in the end (spoiler alert!) beats the local powerhouse.

The film was written, produced and directed by brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, teaching pastors at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., and Alex stars as coach Grant Taylor. Made for $100,000 and using volunteers from the Kendricks' church as actors, the little production ended up grossing over $10 million.

And the name of the film? Facing the Giants -- which is exactly what the Packers are doing in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, with a berth in Super Bowl XLII on the line against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field.

At the time, Gbaja-Biamila had no idea that seven months later, such a matchup would materialize. But after watching the movie and juxtaposing it against the Packers' tumultuous offseason -- during which quarterback Brett Favre harshly criticized general manager Ted Thompson for failing to trade for wide receiver Randy Moss while fans questioned Thompson's thrifty use of salary-cap space and youth movement -- Gbaja-Biamila felt he needed to say something, and he thought the movie was the perfect motivational tool.

"I just remember the whole Randy Moss (situation) and what people were saying about us being a young team, and I remember watching this movie -- and it was so inspirational," Gbaja-Biamila said. "It just reminded me so much about our team."

So he ordered 300 DVD copies of it and had them overnighted to Lambeau Field. Everyone on staff, from Favre to the front-desk receptionist, received a copy -- "We put it in everybody 's mailbox (or) locker," he said -- with Gbaja-Biamila footing the bill. Then, during his eight-minute presentation -- "We just put him on a time frame," McCarthy said with a chuckle -- Gbaja-Biamila delivered the kicker to his teammates: That he was convinced they were going to the Super Bowl.

"The thing with Kabeer is, at least you know it comes from his heart," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "He bought that DVD -- Kabeer is definitely one of the cheapest guys I know -- and he even said, 'Obviously me buying these DVDs for you guys, I feel like they can really help you. And I feel like they can help this team.' ''

Later during OTAs, Gbaja-Biamila shared his Super Bowl prediction with reporters, who reacted the way his teammates often do when he goes on one of his religious rants. ("Kabeer being Kabeer," as right tackle Mark Tauscher put it.)

"The crazy part (is that) I even admitted it publicly. (I thought), 'OK, I'm putting myself on the spot to look like a fool,' '' Gbaja-Biamila said. "But God, I feel like, in a crazy way is vindicating me. I'm kind of excited."

However, Gbaja-Biamila admitted initially, several teammates came to him after watching the DVD scratching their heads.

"When people saw it, they said, t didn't make any sense, it was kind of irrelevant,' '' Gbaja-Biamila said. "But now when you watch it, this is kind of how the Packers' (season) has been.

"I think it's a great movie. As a matter of fact, I'm going to watch it before we play the Giants. It's emotional. So if you're an emotional person, just make sure you have some Kleenex because it got me crying."

Hawk and Tauscher didn't cry, but both were awed when Gbaja-Biamila reminded them earlier this week of the film and his little spiel.

"Kabeer came in and told everybody in the training room on Monday, 'You guys remember that movie, you remember what the name of it was?' And I'll say this, nobody remembered what he was talking about in the beginning," Tauscher said. "But it is, 'Facing the Giants,' and obviously we're facing the Giants this weekend. We were all (stunned). Finally, after eight years, guys listened to Kabeer for a change."

And what he'd said -- McCarthy called Gbaja-Biamila's speech "a great message" -- had gotten through.

"When Kabeer was speaking to us, he basically told us that we can be a Super Bowl contender," Hawk said. "Obviously, every single team when they go into the season, they tell you, 'Oh, we feel like we can win the Super Bowl.' Sometimes you believe them, and sometimes you don't. But I think with this team, we believed him. We were feeling the same way. That's why we took to his presentation and his speech.

"At this point, we've put ourselves in position. We just have to show up Sunday night."