This fall marked the first time my son started playing tackle football here in Kansas.
A pretty talented athlete in both baseball and basketball, he had never put on the pads and actually tackle someone. After bugging me all last spring and into the summer, and after really thinking through the dangers, we agreed to let him play.
Football is a tough sport. There are lots of other great sports, but I am learning quickly how much football really jolts young men into being just that: young men.
I was reminded of this again last night as I sat down after one of my son’s football practices to watch the ESPN documentary Boys of Fall.
The film, the brainchild of country music superstar Kenny Chesney, was born out of his song of the same title. Chesney, who played high school football, decided to explore the many facets of the game from high school up to the NFL. It’s a fascinating and intimate look at the world of football and what the game means to the boys and men who play it, but also to small communities who live for their local high school team.
Torrey Pines HS (San Diego) Coach Ed Burke and his famous “Last Play” speech.My brother graduated from Torrey and Burke mentions the game they are about to play against my alma mater, Carlsbad High School
My goal here is not to review or recount the film, but it did trigger many thoughts and relates to what I see my son and his teammates encountering right now in 4th grade club football.
Most importantly, the life lessons the great game of tackle football teaches the boys who play it.
Not every kid who puts on the shoulder pads and a helmet is going to be any good at it. It’s a tough game where the aggressor and those that think quickly succeed. What every boy who plays the sport can learn is what they see on that field mimics life better than any other sport they have played or will play.
In seeing conversations with great coaches like Nick Saban, Bobby Bowden, Bill Curry, Sean Payton, and local high school coaches, you quickly see how well these coaches lead young men into not only learning a game, but learning how to deal with challenges throughout their lives.
In a time when manhood is maligned, this documentary so well captured how football serves as a window into what it takes to be a man. That’s not to say those who don’t play football aren’t masculine or grow into good men, but there is something truly special about a boy starting as a young, awkward child and growing into a man on the gridiron. Everything that happens on that field, that sacred 100 yards, so easily translates to what they will face as men in the big bad world.
As the father of a first-time football player, I am seeing this first hand. When I was asked to help out and be a part of the coaching staff, I jumped at the opportunity to work with a head coach and assistants who are teaching this great sport and life lessons. It brought me back to my short but valuable high school football career. It brought me to realize just how important the lessons we teach four days a week translate.
Just like the film, the boys on my son’s team are building character in a way that exposes their strengths, weaknesses, fears and desires. It’s all happening on that field in real time. Just like it happens in life. The unexpected despite meticulous plans, the crushing disappointment of failure, the sweet joy of victory, it all happens between the lines.
When my son started, I perhaps forgot how valuable the experience is in developing his character. That rediscovery has been phenomenal and Chesney’s film brought out even more raw emotion and the memories of a teenage boy who learned on the field of play as well.
Football is a classroom for life. It makes boys into men and gives them the tools, guidance and direction that are building blocks for a successful, happy and fulfilled life.
Even if sometimes you lose the game, the lessons always make the boys and men who play the great game of football winners.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at sgulbransen@gmail.com. His personal blog, where he writes about leadership and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also a contributor on Technorati, to the Shamable Blog, and is the Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s at their corporate office in Lenexa, Ks.
Scott,
Great article! I also watched Boys of Fall, it took me back and made me think forward. Favorite quote, Football is not like riding around in an air conditioned car eating twinkies. Certainly wasn’t Saturday.
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