Pro Bowl LXXII; Super Bowl LVI.
That’s the difference between 72 and 56 years; one of those is “long in tooth;” the other continues to grow in popularity.
The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, and its origin was part of the multi-year process through which the National and American Football Leagues merged (culminating in 1970). From that first game – played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs – until today, the football game has become an American experience. It’s the #2 day for American food consumption (behind Thanksgiving), but it holds the #1 spot for the Most Watched television program. The Super Bowl has returned to Los Angeles and will be held at Sofi Stadium.
We have two weeks to get ready for ol’ LVI; LXXII will be hyping up while the talking heads overlook it and make their Super Bowl predictions.
In a team sport, the idea of bringing the “All Stars” – voted in by a torturous process involving current players, coaches and fans – to a neutral field (Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium) has some challenge. For a team sport to be played by men from dozens of different teams, who have spent months playing their conference and playoff schedules against one another – is no small feat. Then, the rosters cannot include the players who make up the two teams who will be fielded for Super Bowl, just seven days later. And, because the game has no real value to the players, their risk of personal injury far outweighs the slight honor that may be conveyed by being included in the exercise. Many just opt-out.
The Associated Press noted that skill events were added around the Pro Bowl weekend to combat what has been described as on-the-field “pillow-fight” like play execution. Organized competitions such as Best Catch, Fastest Man, Precision Passing (where each conference’s two quarterbacks and one non-quarterback try to hit as many targets as possible), Thread the Needle, a head-to-head offense vs. defense accuracy challenge, and Epic Pro Bowl Dodgeball, the showdown’s finals in which the all-stars compete in the classic schoolyard game.
To quote a former NFL player about watching the Pro Bowl, “they probably should have just put flags on them,” indicating that the Pro Bowl was about on the level of a children’s game of flag football.
When a game is played in a team sport between two groups of individuals who are, themselves, not really a team… no one much cares. Even though over 40 million Americans played Fantasy Football in 2021, the live version this Sunday will catch little attention. Does anyone recall last year’s virtual of the Pro Bowl?
Most NFL pros won’t have a minute of playing time in a playoff game; the majority who enter the post-season schedule will have Super Bowl Sunday “off.” The football guys will be watched by a growing audience of fans, the further they go up the ladder. Out of 1,696 active players on 34 teams, only 106 will be on the field next Sunday, and only 53 will leave Los Angeles as “winners.”
There are lots of games you’ll play in 2022, in your own professional “league.” Most of them will be exhibition games; the outcome in the marketplace won’t contribute to your “league standing” at the end of the season. If you make it to the top of your workplace competition, the people applauding as you leave the board room will be few, and their motives will be mixed. How can you make sure you play to win, and the victory will matter?
Paul’s counsel is familiar, but remains powerful: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). That’s great advice for an NFL champion… or, for the special teams player who operates in the office next to yours.
Whether you’re being watched by the 96.4 million predicted Super Bowl viewers, or only by the Super God who has his eye on you – and you alone – it’s your game to win, if you’re really serious about how you go about it.
The pros are playing for a Super Bowl bonus (winners: over $150,000); so are you (“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done!”).
Does eternity have your focus?
