by Hollis Wormsby, Jr.
What if Life was More Like Football
I have watched a lot of football in the last few days and read more previews and reviews than I should probably admit. As I was doing so the question kept coming to me, what if life was more like football?
The first thing that stands out about football is that on a football team, especially at a high level like at Alabama and Auburn, everyone involved in the team has one primary goal, win the games. There is no philosophy. There is no political affiliation. There is a singular goal, win the game, and everyone buys into that goal and does their best to contribute their share towards the victory. In this state we have a little thing called the process in football, and the theory at that University is that everyone from the head coach, to the star quarterback, to people that work at the stadium are a part of winning process. And amazingly a part of that winning process is that everyone or nearly everyone buys into it. In real life it is hard for us to even commit to personal goals for long periods of time, and all too often we accept or make excuses for why our process didn’t work.
In football at a high level, each athlete is given a personal program for how they are expected to develop their skill set to be more able to contribute to the process. In real life people have ways to resist commitment, but in football coaches are able to coach this commitment from each and every athlete. In football the athlete is so sold on the goal that buying into the process is just the next step, though even in football we have those who choose not to make the step. In real life we have a lot more.
In football people are able to see past race and religion to the product on the field, for the most part. I say this – for while I have watched and followed the Tide for years on tv and various websites and they have always shown great love and support for Black athletes in general, in reading the comment on the boards this year, as Blake Sims attempts to win the quarterback position – it seems that in football as in life, there are those who don’t mind having you in the family as long as you know there are places you do not yet belong. As in following the comment boards this past week, while there were many who were complimentary of Sims’ efforts, there were also those who clearly did not want him on the field in that position, and they did not hide their feelings well. I am sure that President Obama can relate to this as to me the source of the hate in this country right now, is that so many people do not want a Black man in the White House and are finding any reason to be upset.
That leads me to the biggest difference between life and football. In football at the highest level there is a god/king in command, and there is no question regarding his authority. At Alabama Nick Saban’s word is gospel. The program is what he says it is, he employs who he wants to employ and fires who he no longer wants, and no one questions him, for as long as the process delivers. This absolute authority is the difference between football and life in a democracy. So while we certainly appreciate our democracy and all that has been sacrificed to make it what it is, is there still something we can learn from the authority that is entrusted in football coaches and the results that the best of them get? I think we can. I think that when we elect someone to do a job we need to trust them to do the job and believe in their process. And this is where it is like football, if they do not, then next election tell them to go home and elect a new coach – I mean leader – and give him or her the same authority. Before Nick Saban at Bama there was a man named Bear Bryant, and after Nick Saban there will be another man when Saban’s time is up, but what is important in football no matter how unhappy we are with the coach, we still respect his process and his authority to make the decision until we have the opportunity to consider replacement. As compared to real life, where some folks plan on throwing an eight year temper tantrum until the man currently in the White House is gone.
Or at least that’s the way I see it.
(Do you have a question or comment on this column? Hit me up at Facebook/HollisWormsby or email me at hjwormsby@aol.com.)
