When I was a sophomore in High School my small private Christian school decided, in no small part because of the dedicated efforts of Chris Walton, to start an 8 man football team. We were terrible. We only won 1 game the first year. We only won 1 game the second year, but by my senior year... we were able to be competitive and won a handful of games and actually made it to the State tournament (where we were destroyed by St. Marys). But I learned so much from that little team and from our coach.
I am so grateful for what I learned in those years which I carry with me. One of the funny things about being a high school kid is you start listening to outside sources other than your parents, because… they’re your parents and you’re tired of them. This is a normal, but frustrating part of adolescence. For me one of the people I started listening closely to was Coach Walton. And man, did that guy love Football. He loved competition. And more than all of those things he loved Jesus. Learning to fight through difficult things, painful things, football hurts. Sometimes it hurts a lot. When I started I went to Dr. Doug Iliff and asked, “any tips on how to play without getting hurt?” He said, “Don’t play. That’s the only way to not get hurt playing football.”
And he was right. I had multiple shoulder dislocations resulting in one surgery and to this day if I sneeze wrong or sleep on my shoulder wrong it can pop out of socket. But for me, that difficulty, that pain, and being mentored and encouraged to fight through it was a first lesson in mental toughness in my life. I grew up very blessed. I sometimes joke I am the poster boy for “white privilege.” (While I use that term in a self-deprecating-way, I generally don’t like it as applied to others because you never actually know what struggles anyone has had just by looking at them. Many people have had to overcome a lot and you shouldn’t ever just assume that they haven’t.)
But learning to manage something painful and difficult, and improve through it was so important for me at that stage of my life. It taught me tenacity. It taught me I didn’t like losing. Losing is terrible. I should try to win. It taught me pain is information, it is telling you something isn’t quite right, but you need to use that tool to get better not back down. As the only senior on the team, I also had the opportunity to be team captain. So I was able to learn how to be a leader.
I will always hear my coach tell us with such intense passion in his voice often while hitting our helmets with his play book, “Don’t You Quit!” Don’t you quit. It was a simple message, but one that was repeated until it resonated into my very soul. Quitting is not something I do. It aided me through college and law school and the bar exam and a legal career. It has benefited my marriage. I won’t quit. I will do difficult and painful things because those are the things that are worth doing. I also learned that when you reach the edge of yourself and your capabilities, that’s when you start handing it all over to God. Which frees you to continue.
That is why I love Football so much. There are precious few things that can take you to the edge of yourself in our comfortable lives. Football is not comfortable. It is hard. And I love it because of that. Whatever you choose to do. Choose to do hard things, things that are painful and stretch you. And don’t quit.
Comments