On the Impact of Friday Night Lights
“Football is like life. It requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.” –Vince Lombardi
This past Friday night our son, Alex, Jr. suited up for Lamphere’s Varsity football playoff game against Detroit Country Day. This was a big deal for us. AJ is a freshman at Lamphere; he played on the JV team this season. Through a confluence of events, he had the privilege of practicing with the varsity team last week and then suiting up for the game under the Friday night lights. I don’t know who was more excited - him or me!
Lamphere lost the game and Aj didn’t see the field, but neither were unexpected. As a freshman who played JV exclusively this season, he didn’t expect any stains on his jersey, but he wore that jersey. He played scout offense all week against the starting varsity defense. He charged the field with the squad to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman!”
There is a pageantry to high school football. The players don their jerseys to school on game day - everyone knows who’s suiting up. Like the New England Patriots before their first Super Bowl win, our team storms the field together. The National Anthem is observed. The cheerleaders cheer. The marching band plays our fight song. The energy is palpable. Without question, the apex of youth sports is the Friday night lights.
The loudest opposition to football is that it is dangerous. Programs across America are shrinking because mothers are afraid for their sons. I can’t argue football is not dangerous. The science is piling up, and furthermore, we all have eyes. Anyone watching the Lions game yesterday (11/1) is no doubt praying for Jack Campbell.
Football is dangerous, but that is a good thing. Danger is more inherent to life than we like to admit. Boarding a plane is dangerous; driving a car is dangerous; riding a bike is dangerous. The right question is: is the danger worth the risk?
The benefits of football are worth the risk for young men. Life is filled with many dangers, toils, and snares, and men are called by God to lead, protect, and provide. It is God’s will that men protect women, children, and those weaker than themselves. Football is modern day warrior training for young men, teaching them to run toward the danger, and not away.
There’s a godly masculine energy inherent to high school football. Undoubtedly such a statement is offensive to our modern culture where football is associated with “toxic masculinity,” but I couldn’t disagree more. Are there football programs that perpetuate a toxic culture? Sure. Sin doesn’t discriminate, but to argue that “toxic masculinity” is inherent to football is to capitulate to a worldview hellbent (literally) on cultural emasculation.
It’s good for my son to learn under male coaches and upperclassmen. It’s good for him to build comradery and be challenged in his manhood on the practice field and in the sanctity of the locker room. I’m grateful for all his teachers, who are predominantly female, but it’s imperative that young men learn from men too. It’s good for men to receive training and correction from men, and there are times when that correction ought to come in a manner that is inappropriate around women, or younger children. Sometimes a teenage boy needs a man to get in his face, challenge his manhood, and use vocabulary that isn’t G rated.
In 1st Corinthians 16.13, St. Paul gives the charge - act like men. The imperative is ἀνδρίζεσθε (and-RHIZ-esthe), which means, “‘to be manly’ or ‘to become a man;’ to exhibit courage in the face of danger—‘to be brave, to be courageous.’”[1] Modern scholars have argued that this verb should be interpreted gender neutrally, meaning, “be mature.” Certainly, there is application here for everyone, but to emasculate the verb feels like a step too far in capitulation to our egalitarian, or even feminist culture. There’s nothing men hate more and nothing motivates men more than challenging manhood. St. Paul knew that too, and that’s why he throws the gauntlet down here in 1st Corinthians 16.13.
Football also teaches young men work ethic and perseverance. When he was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, Tom Brady offered this advice in his speech:
“I would encourage everyone to play football for the simple reason that it is hard. It’s hard when you’re young and to wake up in the offseason to go train and work out, knowing that all your friends are sleeping in and eating pancakes.
It’s hard when you’re on your way to practice, weighed down with all your gear and it’s 90 degrees out and all of the other kids are at the pool or at the beach and your body is already completely exhausted from workouts and two-a-days.
It’s hard to throw, block, catch and tackle and hit kids when they’re way bigger and way more developed than you, only to go home that night bruised and battered but knowing that you have to show up the next day for just the chance to try again.
But understand this — life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and bruises and hits along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself. Because football lessons teach us that success and achievement come from overcoming adversity and that team accomplishment far exceeds anyone’s individual goals.”[2]
St. Paul teaches a similar principal in Romans 5.3-5
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
St. Paul reminds us that we have peace with God because we’ve been justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5.1). This peace - grounded in justification - enables us to rejoice in suffering, which produces endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. Our sanctification is a sojourn of sin and suffering. Football is an opportunity for young men to endure suffering, to shape character, to foster hope.
Finally, football fosters community. The friendships and comradery built in the weight room, on the practice field, and in the locker room teaches teamwork, trust, and humility. The fellowship extends outside the locker room to the community, as well. Family, friends, classmates, and the city fill the stands to support the squad.
The bleachers are full every Friday night. This season our middle school and JV bleachers were packed, even at away games. These boys see that their community is there for them. What does a young man need more than that?-to know that he’s loved and supported.
Ultimately, our true and final example of manhood is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the manliest man who ever lived because he is the only man without sin (2nd Cor 5.21; Heb 4.15; 1st Pet 2.22). He embodies our most urgent aspiration - humility (Phil 2.5-10). He is the apex of endurance (Heb 12.2). Though not without sin, football teaches young men a humble, enduring masculine character. How can that be a bad thing?
[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 306). United Bible Societies.
[2]https://nsjonline.com/article/2024/06/brady-life-is-hard-%E2%80%95be-prepared-for-it/