Sunday evening, our society will gather for one of the most ritualistic ceremonies in the modern age, and in the absurdly long two week hype leading up to this year's Super Bowl, a great deal has been made about the two head coaches involved - specifically about a characteristic that they share, but that neither had control over. Lost in a great deal of this hype (even I am tired of it by now, and I have been fortunate enough to be spared most of it) is what truly makes Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears truly unique.
It seems to be the case that not only do these two men appear differently than the other 80 coaches who have been on the sidelines for this game, but they approach their jobs differently as well. They are men who make no bones about the fact that their priorities are, in this order, faith, family, football. You will not see these men acting like two-year-olds on the sideline, ridiculing and berating their players for every little mistake. You will not see these men cursing (at all) the referees, players, or other coaches, publicly or privately. You will not see these men at their offices at 2:00AM while their families have not seen them for months. You will see men who have their lives in order, and are at the top of their professions. You will see men of class and dignity who treat one another and everyone else they come in touch with respect. At the end of the game, you will see two men embrace at mid-field, the losing coach genuinely pleased for the winning coach, both realizing something that a lot of the people watching the game will forget (or have already forgotten) - in the big scheme of things, it really doesn't matter who wins or loses this game, or even who gets there.
As you watch the Super Bowl, take note of these men and their success. They reject the norms of their profession and chose the more honorable way to conduct themselves. May we all, individually and as a community, have a similar courage to reject what everyone else considers the path to success to do what is right and honorable. May we all, individually and as a community, keep things in the proper perspective.
See you Sunday!
Lamar
It seems to be the case that not only do these two men appear differently than the other 80 coaches who have been on the sidelines for this game, but they approach their jobs differently as well. They are men who make no bones about the fact that their priorities are, in this order, faith, family, football. You will not see these men acting like two-year-olds on the sideline, ridiculing and berating their players for every little mistake. You will not see these men cursing (at all) the referees, players, or other coaches, publicly or privately. You will not see these men at their offices at 2:00AM while their families have not seen them for months. You will see men who have their lives in order, and are at the top of their professions. You will see men of class and dignity who treat one another and everyone else they come in touch with respect. At the end of the game, you will see two men embrace at mid-field, the losing coach genuinely pleased for the winning coach, both realizing something that a lot of the people watching the game will forget (or have already forgotten) - in the big scheme of things, it really doesn't matter who wins or loses this game, or even who gets there.
As you watch the Super Bowl, take note of these men and their success. They reject the norms of their profession and chose the more honorable way to conduct themselves. May we all, individually and as a community, have a similar courage to reject what everyone else considers the path to success to do what is right and honorable. May we all, individually and as a community, keep things in the proper perspective.
See you Sunday!
Lamar
