Football is by far the most popular spectator sport in America and some have argued that it has replaced baseball as “America’s game.” Football is a game that requires brute strength, speed, discipline and most importantly intelligence. I would argue that the intelligence required to play football far surpasses that of other sports. Most people, myself included, don’t know enough about the game to know when a linebacker is downfield covering a tight end or when a defense switches from a four-three to a three-four. What we do know and what makes us love the game is that eleven guys on one side are trying to move the ball forward and that eleven guys on the other side are trying to stop them. Strength and speed while vital to success is always trumped by discipline and intelligence.
Due to the nature of the sport, football can only be played once a week. My friend Bruce taught me an adage some years back that I try to live by; “four hours a week that’s all I ask.” Translation; “my team plays once a week for four hours honey, it’s the only time I want to myself, besides the season is only 16 weeks long and maybe just a little longer if we make the playoffs.” And so it’s been for 25 plus years. I still watch the occasional Yankee or Rangers game but not with the zeal I have for the Giants. Additionally, as the kids got older those four hours have been bonding experiences for us and something we often look forward to doing together.
Personally, I’m a horrible fan. I curse every play and call made, I second-guess the failures and credit luck for the successes. I’m never really satisfied. As a Giants fan, I never really warmed up to Tom Coughlin, I thought he always won enough games to just keep his job but would never be great. Even the victory in Super Bowl XLI was in my eyes more due to David Tyree than the coaching staff. Eli Manning looked like he was so lethargic as to make me nuts, and Coughlin always had this look of bewilderment after every penalty and missed play. What I didn’t appreciate and failed to understand was the sheer intelligence and the loyalty to discipline that both of them have which permeated to everyone on the team. It has made a good team great and it is a lesson we can all learn from (especially you Jets fans). It is also a metaphor for life.
Life, like football is complicated. Sometimes you need to be strong, other times you need to be smart but you always have to have discipline. You also have to stick to your game plan but be ready to make adjustments to it if things change. Most importantly, when your record indicates that you are at best mediocre but there is a small window open to take you to the next level, you never give up. The Giants are the first 9-7 team to win a Super Bowl. In the last two weeks of the season they were written off as dead and even after they managed to make the playoffs after two straight wins no one thought they would win three road games especially the one against Green Bay. What we learned from them was that setbacks are just a catalyst to try harder and boy did they ever.
Imagine if each of us carried that message with us in our every day life, especially our leaders. We could achieve anything and overcome any problem. And there is something else we can learn from the NFL that doesn’t exist in some other professional sports: revenue sharing. The NFL might be a business, actually a multi billion dollar business but it’s run like a socialist one. It doesn’t make a difference if your team is in New York or Jacksonville you all make money and can only pay players under the same salary cap restrictions. Yet somehow despite this seemingly un-American business system, it works. Somehow too, we fans don’t begrudge football players the big contracts that we often lament in baseball or basketball. Because it works and because these guys for the most part are disciplined and intelligent.
This was a great moment for New York and a fun if nerve-wracking season for Giants fans. Most importantly the NFL, the New York Giants and the game of football showed the Americans and the rest of the world that we can do great things, even when the odds are against us.
Due to the nature of the sport, football can only be played once a week. My friend Bruce taught me an adage some years back that I try to live by; “four hours a week that’s all I ask.” Translation; “my team plays once a week for four hours honey, it’s the only time I want to myself, besides the season is only 16 weeks long and maybe just a little longer if we make the playoffs.” And so it’s been for 25 plus years. I still watch the occasional Yankee or Rangers game but not with the zeal I have for the Giants. Additionally, as the kids got older those four hours have been bonding experiences for us and something we often look forward to doing together.
Personally, I’m a horrible fan. I curse every play and call made, I second-guess the failures and credit luck for the successes. I’m never really satisfied. As a Giants fan, I never really warmed up to Tom Coughlin, I thought he always won enough games to just keep his job but would never be great. Even the victory in Super Bowl XLI was in my eyes more due to David Tyree than the coaching staff. Eli Manning looked like he was so lethargic as to make me nuts, and Coughlin always had this look of bewilderment after every penalty and missed play. What I didn’t appreciate and failed to understand was the sheer intelligence and the loyalty to discipline that both of them have which permeated to everyone on the team. It has made a good team great and it is a lesson we can all learn from (especially you Jets fans). It is also a metaphor for life.
Life, like football is complicated. Sometimes you need to be strong, other times you need to be smart but you always have to have discipline. You also have to stick to your game plan but be ready to make adjustments to it if things change. Most importantly, when your record indicates that you are at best mediocre but there is a small window open to take you to the next level, you never give up. The Giants are the first 9-7 team to win a Super Bowl. In the last two weeks of the season they were written off as dead and even after they managed to make the playoffs after two straight wins no one thought they would win three road games especially the one against Green Bay. What we learned from them was that setbacks are just a catalyst to try harder and boy did they ever.
Imagine if each of us carried that message with us in our every day life, especially our leaders. We could achieve anything and overcome any problem. And there is something else we can learn from the NFL that doesn’t exist in some other professional sports: revenue sharing. The NFL might be a business, actually a multi billion dollar business but it’s run like a socialist one. It doesn’t make a difference if your team is in New York or Jacksonville you all make money and can only pay players under the same salary cap restrictions. Yet somehow despite this seemingly un-American business system, it works. Somehow too, we fans don’t begrudge football players the big contracts that we often lament in baseball or basketball. Because it works and because these guys for the most part are disciplined and intelligent.
This was a great moment for New York and a fun if nerve-wracking season for Giants fans. Most importantly the NFL, the New York Giants and the game of football showed the Americans and the rest of the world that we can do great things, even when the odds are against us.
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