Football doesn't owe you anything
| Cody Pearcy leaves Huntingdon
with a number of the school's receiving records. Huntingdon athletics photo |
“Football doesn’t owe you anything, you owe football.”
I first heard this from Tom Elsasser, my head coach at Mansfield University, as a player after practice over 20 years ago. And I have to admit, at the time, I was probably too self-centered and/or too immature to fully understand what he meant.
But I’ve thought about what he meant many times since I walked off a muddy field in Loch Haven, PA as a player for the last time in November of 1990, but probably never more than this Fall.
I know now that Coach “E” was telling us that the lessons the game teaches are more important than whether you were an All-American, starter or a scrub. The lessons that the game teaches are more important than the number of yards gained, tackles made or games won.
You have to work hard and sacrifice as a college football player, but even that doesn’t guarantee you success. You learn humility. Everyone gets knocked down on a football field on occasion or takes a butt-whipping at some point, it’s how you respond to that failure that matters.
This is what the D-III philosophy is all about and what all other levels of college football are or should be about. I’ve been fortunate to be able to coach on the D-III level for nine seasons and cover it in print, on radio and internet for eight years. I never been failed to be impressed with the coaches and players that I’ve had the chance to interview.
But perhaps the greatest thing I’ve taken from this season has been the sense of community and togetherness that football can provide.
I’ve seen a team and community rally around the family of Wesley offensive coordinator Chip Knapp and his family after his son Ben suffered a cardiac arrest a few weeks ago.
I’ve gotten to tell the story of Centre running back Jonathan Pinque, a Haitian orphan, whose coaches, teammates and community rallied around him when his adopted grandfather died to help him to care for his autistic uncle.
I‘ve gotten to tell the story of the group of kids at Sewanee that had won just four games in the past four seasons and see them eclipse that and post a .500 season under first-year coach Tommy Laurendine.
This past Saturday,...
