The Lessons of Life Through Football

It has been said many times that football teaches great life lessons. The sport has been put forth by many coaches as the best way to draw meaningful analogies between the successes and failures on the field and those that we will see as we go through our lives.

Life is not always easy, and neither is football. Yesterdays 50th Super Bowl between the Carolina Panthers, and the Denver Broncos serves as a great example of lessons in life. One team that was riding high with only one loss and a quarterback that the day before had been named the league MVP, had to play against a team that had the best defense in the league, but whose quarterback was likely in his last game. Peyton Manning was 39 years old, and yesterday became the oldest quarterback to ever start in a Super Bowl.

There have been better Super Bowls, but there was something about this one that was different. I had told several people before the game that I thought Carolina would win by 20. My brother (a retired football coach)reminded me that Denver was not about to roll over and play dead for Carolina. Boy was he right. Denver played within their capabilities on offense, and played lights out on defense, thoroughly frustrating Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. A game that I thought had a very predictable outcome became anything but predictable, and showed me that when a team works together, anything can be accomplished.

Like in a football game, there are many times in life  that you don't know what is coming next. There are sometimes pleasant surprises, and sometimes unpleasant surprises. Whether in football or life, it's how you deal with each that helps you move forward.

For me personally, I have never played football....not organized anyway. I have always been a fan, and was an equipment manager in both high school and college. In addition to this, my father was a coach, so I have had ample exposure to the sport. During this exposure it has always been the aspect of how football helps to form the athlete as a person that I have found most fascinating.

The coach develops a game plan based on the opponent, and  puts the best players on the field to execute their role to help ensure the teams success. As the game goes on the opposition will make adjustments, and present a different challenge to the team for which the coach will need to adjust etc., etc., etc.,

For me, I have received a new challenge in life. This past Tuesday, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and am currently working  with doctors to develop a treatment plan.
The word cancer for most people, me included, is quite scary to hear. The good news is that there have been huge advancements in the treatment of prostate cancer, and mine is considered very treatable. It will likely involve radiation therapy, but there at this point, are far more questions than answers. I will listen to the doctors (coaches), and do my best to help in the execution of the best game plan possible to win this battle.

How will all of this affect me? I am not sure. I have two jobs that keep me very busy, so I worry about how physically taxing this may be on me. I will do my best to maintain the blog with Ferrum updates, but I cannot guarantee how often I will post. I appreciate your reading the blog, and ask for your patience as it will take a back seat for a while.

My plan is right now however to be at the Emory and Henry game, and see the Panthers be just as victorious in their battle as I will be in mine.

Go Panthers!