They Are Titans
It is the dawn of another NFS football season. Already, during the preseason games, we have had controversy and spectacle. Famed QB Andrew Luck unceremoniously and unexpected retired right in the middle of a game. Why? Professional Football was destroying his body and his vitality.
He was boo’d by the very fans that wore his numbers.
This goes to the center of an American problem. Maybe it’s all of humanity, but I want to hope not. It feels more solvable if it’s just our culture. We place so many wrong things over human lives. We value the Quarterback over the person in the jersey playing the position. We value the gun over the lives it takes. We value the dollar above the comfort and wellbeing it can power.
Instead of jeering Andrew, we should applaud him. Celebrate the show he did give us, thank him for his performance and let him know we are mourning a future without him.
There will be many players taking a knee during our National Anthem. The NFL has worked hard to keep the spotlight off of these human beings. They don’t want controversy, they simply want their bought-men to earn them profit. As I stated in Mandingo Fighting Is Alive, they want people to focus on the football player, not the whole person in that uniform.
I have no qualms enjoying watching Football. I support my favorite players, I love their stories, and I appreciate the hell out of the show they put on for me. And I try to give space in my life to hear about their needs, wants and concerns when they ask for my mindshare.
It doesn’t mean I blindly believe, follow or agree with their messages. It does mean that I give them that space and I try to understand their perspectives.
There is some quote I cannot find, something probably said about Baseball by Yogi Berra. I’m going to wreck the quote but hopefully get to the heart of it.
There are fans of the stories, and fans of the statistics
I’m a fan of the story, the player. I want to know their whole story though and not just the little hygienic bit that is thought fit to show me.