The mood altering aroma of the freshly cut grass. The ricochet crack of the pads. The whippoorwill like trill of the whistle. In honor of the NFL and its 100th season tonight I celebrate America’s game – Football. The focus today is on the professionals. The best of the best – the elite athletes that play in the NFL of today. But just for a minute lets look a little closer to home and look at the players in our own backyards (literally). The mighty mites and the pee wee leagues of Americana. The High Schools under the Friday Night Lights. Where the game of football advances on a playing field of innocence.
Parents – get a clue. You are not raising the next Walter Payton, Brett Favre or J.J. Watt. You. Are. Not. Your son or daughter is not going to be better off in life because they had 15 more minutes of playing time per game than their locker partner. They are not going to be better people because you sat and watched (and “coached”) from behind the fence. They are going to be better because they worked hard, committed to something bigger than themselves and fought for a spot on that depth chart. I contend that they are even better off when they don’t make the bus for a week or two. Why? You ask – because nothing in life is a given. There are no free rides no matter what the current political climate tries to sell us as a society. There is no Free – someone is paying. Fair is not equal and equal is not fair.
Life is messy. It carries with it the broken bones, stingers, missed catches and double doinks that in every game teach kids how to move over, under or through adversity. Parents – stop dressing your kids in white and carrying them on your shoulders. Throw them in the mud and let them get dirty. Stop making their accomplishments on the field a reflection of your accomplishments as a parent. Its Not About You.
It is about young characters with character that get to put on a uniform and feel like Superman stepping out of the phonebooth. Its about knowing that there is no “I” in TEAM. That “WE before ME” can elevate everyone to a higher level of achievement, self esteem, accomplishment and comradery. That when we teach kids to “Win the Day” we are teaching them to win the day, every day, for life.
Someone I know preaches “Excellence matters in all that you do.” And he is 100% right. I don’t care if these kids become a Nobel prize winners or electricians. Finish carpenters or neurosurgeons. If they carry the lessons that the game CAN teach them they will be the best. They will win the prize – invent the next great technology – find the medical breakthrough or design the newest skyscraper. They will be the “supermoms” and “superdads” that their kids can lean on and the parents that get their kids cape pressed and ready. These kids WILL do because they CAN do – its inside them. Its our job as parents to teach them to not hide their light under a bushel basket but how to throw the basket aside. And stomp on it.
So as we celebrate America’s game let’s also bring the celebration home to our backyards and celebrate the pee-wee bobbleheads and the Friday Night Lights with the same excitement as we celebrate the players on the national stage. Because they are only little for a short time and the game clock is running.
Chapstick in the Dryer 