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This week, the weather will finally shift to start feeling like fall, which is certainly one of the greatest seasons of the year. Football season is fully back in the South, and that’s a big deal! Many love the sport. Others may view it as too violent. Ben Sasse recently wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal about how football shapes the lives of young men. He said, “Football is a character forming institution that channels strength. In a world of instant gratification, it teaches perseverance through early practices and aching muscles. In an era of isolation, football creates community. It forms brotherhood through both misery and joy. In a culture of passivity, football privileges action.”
We are currently living in a time when many young men feel lost and disconnected. On a macro scale, young women seem to be doing much better in terms of education, motivation, and finding success. Why is that? It’s a question our culture needs to answer. Sasse continues by saying, “Football simultaneously celebrates and constrains violence. It teaches the difference between boyhood and manhood, between self-indulgence and self-restraint. Football done right creates the conditions for less, rather than more, violence in bars.”
I think Sasse is right. This beloved American sport lays the foundation for many young men in a world where many of them are struggling. It cultivates virtues and lessons that will last a lifetime.
In a recent speech to MBA’s football team, I shared some of the life lessons that football taught me many years ago. I wanted them to understand that it is far more than just a sport. I shared a few thoughts.
First, life is a team sport. We don’t win alone. We don’t lose alone. We count on each other and have to be there for each other. Living in isolation never works out well. The church family is an ongoing reminder of that.
Second, anything significant in life requires hard work and sacrifice. Nothing comes easy. Football teaches that with workouts, conditioning, and long hot summer practices before the season.
Third, we always have to get ready for the next play. No matter what happens, we have to get back up, be ready to go again, and leave the past behind.
Fourth, in life, we all deal with adversity. Things often don’t go the way we plan, and we have to adapt and adjust. Adversity forms character and makes us stronger.
Fifth, small decisions and little things have big consequences. One missed block. One missed tackle. One blown play can change the momentum of the entire game. The same is true in our lives. Things can turn on a dime.
Sixth, you won’t fully appreciate the gift of youth and playing on Friday nights until they are gone. I told them they will look back at the good old days with fondness, so they should cherish these moments. So many stages of life are gone before we know it. Kids grow up fast, and we wonder where the time went.
Seventh, when it's all said and done, football is character-forming. It’s the type of person we become in life that matters, not what we accomplish.
Many people might say that football is barbaric and violent, but that’s not the full story. It is teaching our young men many valuable lessons that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Sasse concludes his article by saying, “When guided by seasoned coaches, football punishes hits after the whistle. It prohibits targeting defenseless receivers. It shames bullying in the locker room. It scorns those who won’t shake hands with an opponent post-game.”
Perhaps our young men don’t realize everything that the sport is teaching them. But over time, they will gain a deeper understanding as life unfolds. Football is not just a sport. It teaches teamwork, grit, sacrifice, resilience, planning, strength, and sportsmanship. It becomes preparation for a life well lived.
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