Football
season is back! Like most college towns, Aggieland is full of excitement and
anticipation to see how our team will fair as the season progresses. Watching
some great early-season matchups over the past few weeks, I’ve reflected some
on the many life-lessons we can take from this great sport. Many of those
lessons can be found in stories related by the late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin,
running back for the University of Utah during the late 1930s and apostle of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Below are just a few of my
favorites.
Keep your eye on the ball!
I’ll never forget one high
school football game against a rival school. I played the wingback position,
and my assignment was to either block the linebacker or try to get open so the
quarterback could throw me the ball. The reason I remember this particular game
so well is because the fellow on the other side of the line—the man I was
supposed to block—was a giant…. The more I thought about it, the more I came to
a sobering realization: if I ever let him catch me, I could be cheering for my
team the rest of the season from a hospital bed. Lucky for me, I was fast. And
for the better part of the first half, I managed to avoid him. Except for one
play. Our quarterback dropped back to pass. I was open. He threw the ball, and
it sailed towards me. The only problem was that I could hear a lumbering gallop
behind me…. I reached out, and—at the last instant—I looked up. And there he
was. I remember the ball hitting my hands. I remember struggling to hang on to
it. I remember the sound of the ball falling to the turf. After that, I’m not
exactly sure what happened, because the giant hit me so hard I wasn’t sure what
planet I was on….
That day, during his half-time
speech, Coach Oswald reminded the whole team about the pass I had dropped. Then
he pointed right at me and said, “How could you do that?” He wasn’t speaking
with his inside voice. “I want to know what made you drop that pass.” I
stammered for a moment and then finally decided to tell the truth. “I took my
eye off the ball,” I said. The coach looked at me and said, “That’s right; you
took your eye off the ball. Don’t ever do that again. That kind of mistake loses
ball games.”…
We headed back onto the field
and started the second half. It was a close game, and even though my team had
played well, we were behind by four points late in the fourth quarter. The
quarterback called my number on the next play. I went out again, and again I
was open. The ball headed towards me. But this time, the giant was in front of
me and in perfect position to intercept the pass. He reached up, but the ball
sailed through his hands. I jumped high, never taking my eye off the ball; stabbed
at it; and pulled it down for the game-winning touchdown. I don’t remember much
about the celebration after, but I do remember the look on Coach Oswald’s face.
“Way to keep your eye on the ball,” he said. I think I smiled for a week.
I have known many great men and
women. Although they have different backgrounds, talents, and perspectives,
they all have this in common: they work diligently and persistently towards
achieving their goals. It’s easy to get distracted and lose focus on the things
that are most important in life. I’ve tried to remember the lessons I learned
from Coach Oswald and prioritize values that are important to me so that I can
keep my eye focused on things that really matter.
Do what is right, no matter the consequence!
[One] lesson I learned on the
football field was at the bottom of a pile of 10 other players. It was the
Rocky Mountain Conference championship game, and the play called for me to run
the ball up the middle to score the go-ahead touchdown. I took the handoff and
plunged into the line. I knew I was close to the goal line, but I didn’t know
how close. Although I was pinned at the bottom of the pile, I reached my
fingers forward a couple of inches and I could feel it. The goal line was two
inches away. At that moment I was tempted to push the ball forward. I could
have done it. And when the refs finally pulled the players off the pile, I
would have been a hero. No one would have ever known. I had dreamed of this
moment from the time I was a boy. And it was right there within my reach. But
then I remembered the words of my mother. “Joseph,” she had often said to me,
“do what is right, no matter the consequence. Do what is right and things will
turn out OK.”
I wanted so desperately to score
that touchdown. But more than being a hero in the eyes of my friends, I wanted
to be a hero in the eyes of my mother. And so I left the ball where it was—two
inches from the goal line. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was a
defining experience. Had I moved the ball, I could have been a champion for a
moment, but the reward of temporary glory would have carried with it too steep
and too lasting a price. It would have engraved upon my conscience a scar that
would have stayed with me the remainder of my life. I knew I must do what is right.
Never compromise ideals or
effort!
As a youth I found the utmost
exhilaration in playing football at the university under Coach Armstrong….
Coach Armstrong taught basic, fundamental, hard football. He emphasized the
fact that if each play were perfectly executed, it would result in a touchdown.
But achieving that perfect play, he stressed, was only possible if each player
performed his responsibility and assignment perfectly. This meant that each
lineman and backfield man would have to do a perfect job of blocking out his
opponent, that the center would have to pass the ball to the quarterback with
bull’s-eye accuracy and timing, and that the ball carrier would have to execute
the play as called.
I can assure you that it didn’t
always work this way, anymore than life itself can be directed or lived without
some trial and error. However, if ultimate success is to be achieved in either
football or life, there can be no compromising of the ideals or the effort.
And, as in all things, it is frequently necessary to pick up the pieces,
reevaluate the resources and the goals, never tiring of making the second
effort.
As
Elder Wirthlin stated, referring to his former football coach at the University
of Utah, “football not only provided a vehicle
for the development of skills, ideals, and leadership, it personified life—and
life at its best.” May we all seek that kind of inspiration as we enjoy the
great games of the 2015-2016 season!
_________________________________
Sources:
“In Football or in Life”, November
1978, https://www.lds.org/new-era/1978/11/in-football-or-in-life?lang=eng
“Life’s Lessons Learned”, April 2007, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/lifes-lessons-learned?lang=eng
Photo Credits:
(1) University of Utah Magazine, Spring 2009: http://continuum.utah.edu/back_issues/2009spring/alumni_profile.html
(2) Mormon Messages, January 2009: http://media.ldscdn.org/images/videos/mormon-channel/mormon-messages-2009/2009-01-03-come-what-may-and-love-it-192x108-thumb.jpg
(3) BYU News Release, December 2008: http://news.byu.edu/archive08-Dec-wirthlin.aspx
