Like most of our sports, our American version of the game of football has developed over time. Indeed, each year both the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association make adjustments to their rules. Some of these changes are for the safety of the players, but many are to speed up the game and make it a more enjoyable spectator sport.
My husband, who played defensive nose guard, that is middle guard, from the fourth grade through high school and into college, believes defense is everything in football. If you are the nose guard, he says, you are the backbone of the defense. You are in the thick of everything, right across from the center. Nobody comes down that line unless they come through you.
Of course once in a while, he remembers, he felt like a freight train had come through him. But most of the time it was fun out there, he says. “I could get in the face of the center and talk trash at him. I could even keep my eyes on the quarterback.
“Yet to be honest,” my husband admits, “I could never fully understand everything happening on the field, because I was in the thick of it. I did not have the bird’s eye view of a spectator. I could not see the plays developing. I only knew what was coming at me.”
That is how it is, isn’t it? We live so much of our life with our eyes focused only on what is coming at us that we cannot see the bigger picture unfolding around us.
When asked a question about defense in East Carolina’s game against Old Dominion, ECU Coach Ruffin McNeill said, “Of course, there are some plays we wish we had back … After we look at the film, we will see what we can do better. We will watch … see what happened and what we can correct.”
I for one am thankful I do not have footage of my performances recorded and analyzed each week. There are certainly actions I would wish I could have back. Yet I know if we never take time to look at the mistakes we have made as well as the things we have done right, how can we get any better? How can we gain any understanding?
My spouse and I disagree on which is more important, defense or offense. Yet we agree that winners in life are those who are able to step back and look at the big picture. Otherwise, we have found, much of life can happen while we are looking in another direction.
The Rev. Wanda S. Neely is pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Reach her at wneely@fpckinston.com.
