Life Lessons From the NFL
The Autumn Wind is a raider,
Pillaging just for fun.
He’ll knock you ‘round and upside down,
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.
Steve Sabol, “The Autumn Wind”
The NFL season is officially over, and if we’ve learned anything over these last frenetic weekends is that quitting should not be an option. “Stay in the game,” and anything can happen.
The Pretty Blonde and I were firm believers that sports could and should be used as a teaching aid for our kids. Once they were old enough to start kindergarten, we steered our boys into organized soccer, basketball, and karate so they could learn the values of team work, discipline, respect, and hard work. And yes, that life is not always fair. All we asked in return from our sweaty bundles of joy was that they tried their hardest to do their best. As parents, we rewarded effort, not results.
Even now, with both boys having flown the coop, I still try to use sports as a road to impart parental wisdom. It’s a little trickier with The Skinny Kid, as his interest in professional sports falls somewhere between a green vegetable and the period at the end of this sentence (Keith’s a little more bloodthirsty when it comes to online gaming, however). The Red Headed Kid, on the other hand, has ESPN tattooed on his brain.
Last summer, in hopeful anticipation of a Ross Geiger Christmas vacation drive-by, I began recording episodes of “The Football Life,” a one-hour series aired on the NFL Network that documents the lives and careers of select NFL players, coaches, owners and teams. Each show attempts to examine the untold stories of the most influential NFL icons, and how their legacy is forever intertwined in the fabric of NFL history. To me, they are more than just football stories. They’re life lessons.
Against all odds, Ross managed to secure a five-day pass from his management consulting gig. After allowing him barely enough time to hug his mother, I sat him down in front of the television. After scrolling through the shows on Joe Montana, Vince Lombardi, Walter Payton, etc., I clicked on a singular program about an NFL legend that I really, really wanted to share with him: “A Football Life: Steve Sabol.”
Who?
Steve Sabol, who died in 2012 at the age of 69, was more than just the President of NFL Films. He was the creative force behind the entire enterprise—often acting as producer, writer, director and cameraman–that melded cinematic ingenuity, martial metaphors and symphonic music to lend professional football the aura of myth and help fuel its rise in popularity. What impressed me the most about Steve Sabol, and what I wanted to pass on to my children, were two values; a steely belief in himself, and an all-consuming passion for his work. He absolutely, positively LOVED what he was doing, and he combined his creative talent with a zealous attention to detail to become the best at what he wanted to be; a storyteller.
Steve Sabol, an art history major from tiny Colorado College who never played a down in the NFL yet who knew who he was and what he wanted to do with his life, won 35 Emmy Awards and is enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame. No matter your age, he’s someone we can all learn from.