I was in fifth grade when I first witnessed a tragic football accident. I remember seeing a boy lying motionless on the 50-yard line, surrounded by the coaches, his parents, and eventually paramedics, who would carry him off on a stretcher. He would live, but for now he was lifeless. The boy had collided with another kid and hadn’t moved since the accident. The event is something that I have never forgotten.
I personally played football until eighth grade but quit in high school because of how much bigger, faster and stronger everyone was than me. I’m competitive like that. At the time I felt rather despondent that I wasn’t going to play again, but looking back I am grateful that I stopped. It seems that modern science has revealed that bumping heads repeatedly with another human being, even if both are wearing helmets, isn’t the best thing for the human brain. Dr. Bennet Omalu, the doctor who inspired the movie Concussion, has performed studies that show how such activities affect the brain at the cellular level. He calls the effects Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or C.T.E., which is a disease of the brain that causes “major depression, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and actions, loss of intelligence, as well as dementia later in life,” (New York Times, “Don’t Let Kids Play Football”) the kind that allegedly led to the recent death of 27-year-old Tyler Sash, who overdosed on painkillers, and 43-year-old Junior Seau, who committed suicide.
I haven’t played contact football since eighth grade, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been involved with it. Until a few years ago I bled Cowboys blue and silver. Win or lose, I loved my Dallas Cowboys … even during the Quincy Carter era. Things are much different today. I haven’t watched an entire NFL game in a while, and the last one I watched was one of the recent Super Bowls, and that was because I attended a church-sponsored Super Bowl fellowship. It was an event I, as a pastor, encouraged our Sunday School classes to host because I thought it was a cultural event that could convince non-church folks that we are normal people who like normal things.
This year, however, our church won’t be encouraging Super Bowl fellowships. We aren’t necessarily discouraging them, but we aren’t endorsing them as a church.
As a Christian, I am growing increasingly uncomfortable in endorsing contact football. Of course I have no problem with football, but I am bothered with the way it is played in the NFL, which encourages a person to use his body like a human torpedo, bent on capsizing another human body into a downed submarine. Our minds and bodies belong to the Lord, and sanctioning the destruction of both in the name of football just seems unsettling.
I read a story the other day about an ex-NFL player named Antwaan Randle El who says he wishes he never played football in the NFL. Randle El had a successful career and was a widely reputable player during his days, yet, “If I could go back,” he says, “I wouldn’t [play].”
Randle El is only 36 years old but says that he has trouble walking up and down stairs. He also says that he has recurring mental lapses. “I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that.’ I’ll ask her three times the night before and get up in the morning and forget. I try to chalk it up as I’m busy … but I have to be on my knees praying about it, asking God to allow me to not have these issues and live a long life. I want to see my kids raised up. I want to see my grandkids.”
Randle El’s comments cause me to wonder, in our present Super Bowl season, if churches should encourage fellowship around an event that puts young men in such conditions, conditions that can rob a man of his mobility and threaten to make a widow and orphans of his wife and children.
I am not presently comfortable saying that a Christian cannot or should not watch the NFL, but I do think that the ongoing revelations of ex-NFL players’ deteriorating bodies and brains should cause pastors to stop and ask whether or not they should encourage their people to fellowship around an event that allows for such carnage, and perhaps even encourage Christians to wonder whether or not we should support football as it is currently played in the NFL.
Or maybe I’m just a bitter Dallas Cowboys fan feeling the effects of two depressing decades of football, and all of this is just my way of coping with another failed season.
I’m all for considering the physical cost of sporting events on participants and appreciate the article. I pulled one child from football when his 110 pound frame was up against kids the same age who weighed 250. No future in that.
That said, when I saw the title of this article I assumed it would be the usual Super Bowl near-naked chicks and beer-will-make-your-life-worth-living stuff that has been an annual topic since churches started having these fellowships.
Guess time has passed me by once again.
I’m probably the last holdout in America. We still have church on Sunday night and don’t cancel for a football game. Small attendance, but the symbolism of adjusting church for a football game has always bothered me. I know, most of you disagree. We’ve discussed that to death.
But I just appreciate that someone is thinking through these things instead of mindlessly saying, “Hey, it’s American football! Of course God is okay with it!”
We should apply this kind of thought to everything we do. We won’t all come up with the same answers, but we should at least ask the questions.
“I’m probably the last holdout in America. We still have church on Sunday night and don’t cancel for a football game.”
No, Dave Miller,
actually you are not the “last holdout in America” who refuses to cancel services for a football game. I would not do that. I love the sport. . . . But, I do not worship it.
I know football is violent. It is a contact sport. However, I believe playing football can and does help to give young men opportunity to learn how to live in their own skins. It helps them to learn to get up when knocked down.
I think a lot of what football can do positively in a young man’s life has to do with the man who coaches him. There are some personalities who should never coach football. This is true just like it is true that some personalities are not suited to teach martial arts. There are some personalities that should never own firearms or even edged weapons.
I think the greatest problem in football or any other physical or potentially dangerous sport or activity is the absence of true manhood among those who participate either as coaches or players.
Sometimes hard decisions are necessary. I read here that William Thornton had to put an end to football for a young man due to the great variance in size of the other young men with whom he played. That was the right move.
Only an idiot would tell a young man that he has to play and “be a real man” in such a circumstance. That’s stupid. Football is a sport. It is not a war for the life or death of family, home, or nation.
There are other sports that a 110 lb. young man can engage the learning to live in their own skins and have confidence. Some of my boys played football. Some did not. I stopped one from playing. Yet, all seem to be comfortable in their own skin.
Football is a sport. It can be beneficial to those who play it. It is sad that some people play “games” with it, very hurtful games, very destructive games.
You read my mind cb… or whats left of it…dangerous.
Jared,
Interesting article. I have a question for you though. Are your considerations exclusive to the NFL or are you suggesting that pastors and churches might come to discourage football at all levels?
I would say contact football at all levels, but especially the NFL, where it is most dangerous.
Jared Wellman,
There is no other true from of football other than “contact football.”
What about other contact sports? — such sports as the various martial arts, and that would include boxing and wrestling (not the fake, entertainment wrestling, but true wrestling)
Wait! Fake wrestling? Not sure of what you speak?!
Well Tarheel,
Ever since Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, and Rick Flair kinda fizzled out, it has kinda gone down hill, you gotta admit.
Ah – the good ole days.
Jared,
It would be interesting to see just how many of our congregants are actually enthusiasts as of late. It’s probably about as many as watch the Miss America, Miss Universe pageants.
Discouraging this one game, and all that precede it, would be like, let’s say, being a governor of a Northeastern State and telling everyone that big gulps and super-size-me portions are evil. Then insisting that those who manufacture them are complicit to the premature death of those who purchase. (sounds like the tobacco industry)
After proper and more thorough examination, the stethoscope reveals
additional reasons we might want to hospitalize the NFL or send it to its grave.
–High levels of funny business that attack, weaken and destroy marriages and families.
–Overdoses of ego and pride that prompt unnecessary risks.
–Toxic levels of industry greed spewing without restriction.
–Psychotic, youthful fantasies of cars, women, fame and glory drag off our youth to camp disappointment and depression.
–Young men, and old, receive money—so much money that their brains, along with conscious, reveal an antibody to sensibilities. Often resulting in the erosion of character and or the revelation of pre-existing
internal, infectious impairment.
–Husbands abandoning their families and gambling away their means of survival.
–Million dollar crybabies whine about their salaries and conditions.
–Billion dollar owners flaunt their excess.
We haven’t even mentioned the most insidious infraction of all.
Each Superbowl, each player, (whether they play or not) will make more money in three hours than my sons elementary teacher will make in 3 years.
Ticket holders rule the day after all though. We reveal our value system in this country each ticket each game. In the USA we are about big, bad, the most and best. So sorry about the inherent work hazards y’all. We all have them.
And here I thought this was going to be about the questionable commercials the play
Jared,
I too, when 18 years old, lay in a coma for about 4-5 hours at the hospital from a shot to the head. I was raised in West Texas where high school football on Friday nights was what people lived. It was exciting, fun, brought folks together, created a united scene for those small West Texas towns.
The only problem for me though is that I was hit with a golf ball, not a helmet. You see, I was one of the most competitive rising stars in junior golf in the seventies and early eighties. Won numerous junior PGA events, high school, college, and was being prepped for professional level outings. Went on full scholarship to College to play a game. But, to the point you raise, there was a price. Even though, when in high school and college, my dad and I would play in weekend events,… we had to qualify for the championship round (which teed off at 1:00PM) or many times I would miss the first few holes, and sometimes forfeit the entire round. Why? Because worship with the church was always more important to me. My coaches never understood, my dad did but didn’t like it. Yet to me,.. worship was king.
I’ve served at churches that would do Super Bowl parties, and always felt worship was a little cheapened to say the least. Now tasked with leading the local church for the past 20+ years, football or any other sport or activity, remains secondary or further down the list. To me its not the violent nature of football that is the main culprit, it is the intention of the heart. Is my heart inclined toward God, or is it inclined toward something else. Whether that something else is Football, golf, or league of legends.
The reason I brought golf forward in this discussion was to make the point that we certainly must protect our bodies as best we can. When I was hit in the head … it was by a coach. I was leading the tournament and the coaches were playing behind us, and he hits an errant tee shot, about 230 yards onto the tee box where I was standing. My neurologist put me on seizure medication for about 20 years.
Football really is a strategy sport, and has become violent. The interesting thing though, is that it doesn’t have to be that violent when taught properly. So the violence thing is really more about coaching (an ultimately money) than anything else. Because a player can tackle more effectively and remain in the game longer by not doing what is done today. In fact, games are lost because kids are taught to become missiles and not form tacklers…and they whiff on a tackles a lot (but, ESPN only covers those brutal shots and that is what kids love).
My point is…. is that worship is worship, and sports are sports. All believers make a choice to do one over the other. Churches have tried to mix them. That never works effectively…something suffers. Why tempt your church?
Just some thoughts…
“The only problem for me though is that I was hit with a golf ball, not a helmet.”
Chris Johnson,
Your testimony brings a smile to my face and I remember conversations with medical doctors who have examined me over the years. They always ask, “How did you get the broken bones and head injuries? Car Wrecks? Football?”
My answer is, “No, it was hands, feet, clubs, pipes, rocks, bricks, and rifle butts.” . . . and being slammed up, down, or against some really hard trees, dirt, and concrete. . . but never football or a car wreck.
Football been good to me. ROLL TIDE.” 😉
🙂
“Men cheerfully abandon the whole substance of Christianity, but will hardly be persuaded to surrender the name.” (Benjamin Warfield, 1851-1921).
Ben signals how the NFL Sunday is practiced today….
CB:
Here’s someone trying to ROLL TIDE:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ON2e8tbcgaI/TGWJL1RHmaI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/0TzpsDDt2-g/s1600/IMG_7091.JPG
We all remember the classic book entitled, “In His Steps”. In it the local newspaperman stopped publishing the results of the prize fights because he believed that Jesus would not have published them if He were the editor. Yet, Paul references boxing in his epistles and make no condemnation of it. In fact he references several sports including wrestling and never says a word of condemnation about them. Everyone knows the risks if football. As long as people know those risks I cannot see anything wrong with them participating.
John Wylie,
Have you ever wonder who could have won the fight had Peter and Paul gotten in to it when Paul called Peter’s hand?
I think Paul might could have taken Peter because Peter probably always counted on his size and never really trained much. And you are right that Paul knew something about martial arts such as boxing and grappling.
Paul coulda took ’em. Especially, if he got him into a figure 4 leg lock or a sleeper hold. Peter did fall off to sleep pretty easy as you know.
I personally think that he would have used the Fritz Von Erich “iron claw” on Peter.
Yep, you are probably right, John Wylie. Paul was highly intelligent and it takes a real smart fellow to pull off the “iron claw.”
Football maybe more dangerous at the pro level but the men who play are adults who know the danger. Football may be no more than modern day gladiator fights but is it sinful in and of itself? The commercials are a different story
Gordon,
In general, Gladiators killed one another. In general, football players do not kill each other.
How is football sinful?
Do some or all of you folks who frequent this blog believe playing football is a sin other than Gordon?
Brother, I don’t think.that is what Gordon is saying. He was asking a question .
John Wylie,
I understand it was a question. However, it seems he may consider the sport itself to be sinful for those who play.
I realize my observation is questionable, however I would ask Gordon to answer yes or no.
CB, this is crazy. If you would kindly go back and read ALL of my original message you will see that I NEVER said that football is sinful. Here is what I wrote: Please read it carefully.
“Football maybe more dangerous at the pro level but the men who play are adults who know the danger. Football may be no more than modern day gladiator fights but is it sinful in and of itself? The commercials are a different story”
That is amazing that you made what I said mean exactly the opposite of what I meant, CB. I clearly did NOT say football was sinful Let’s read all before we make comments like that.
Gordon,
I do greatly apologize and with enormous pleasure do I.
Forgive my poor reading and interpretation of what you wrote and intended.
thanks. We are good.
Gordon,
Sometimes, I guess my former head injuries just get the best of my cognitive abilities.
No comment
Perhaps calling it “football” is a sin, since the ball seldom engages the foot. Soccer is football.
“… the men who play are adults who know the danger.”
It’s true that NFL players likely know what they are getting in to, more so today than ever, but I don’t see how that impacts whether or not it is right or wrong for a Christian to watch.
A young lady could know what she is getting in to if she decides to live a promiscuous life, but that doesn’t mean that it is okay for us to watch her participate in that life.
I am just trying to figure out how it is sinful. Your illustration is seems to be comparing apples with oranges. Football is not exactly promiscuous (other than the commercials)
” . . . but that doesn’t mean that it is okay for us to watch her participate in that life.”
There is an absolute sense wherein “watching” her would be a sin. I really don’t think watching such equates with playing or watching football.
Really! This is worth making a stand on? That is absurd. Love people, preach the gospel, live out the Word of God and stop trying to make everything right or wrong. There are plenty enough problems without making up new things for Christians to be against. This is the kind of thinking that has our world increasingly viewing Christians in negatively.
It’s not a matter of making it right and wrong. But a Christian, living under the Lordship of Christ, should examine every activity, every hobby, every action he takes and see if it glorifies God and serves the purposes of the kingdom.
A
Dave Miller,
I have written testimony from you from many dates and sources that you consider SEC football a sin.
I have given your position much thought. I have come to the conclusion that you consider SEC football a sin because you have never had the opportunity to witness a real football game in person because you live where the game is not played. So I don’t believe you really understand and the lack of understanding on your part makes you think SEC Football is a sin. In other words, bless your heart, you just can’t help yourself due to a lack of knowledge.
Therefore, I would be more than glad to send you an ALABAMA cap and a SEC game schedule for 2016 so you can come to any SEC Nation of your choice and watch the sport played as it was meant to be. The fact that you would be wearing the BAMA cap would make other fans more cordial to you, believing you are a winner . . . . and you know, Dave, everyone loves a winner.
Please give this offer some deep consideration. It will cure what ails you.
Lol! 🙂
Liberal
It is a topic worthy of discussion: humans who are made in the image of God are injuring, harming and in some cases maiming one another for our entertainment, should the church actively promote such a thing by having a Super Bowl party?
I am waiting for the rebuttal where someone tells us how to participate in a Super Bowl pool for the glory of God and the edifying of the saints.
Dean,
How about a “Gospel-Centered Football Party”?
😉
Targeting — 15 yards
Point to CB
One way, I suppose, is to assure that no laws are being broken by non-compliance with NFL copyright laws.
Yea, legally – advertisements/flyers cannot use the logo (NFL or SB), offical name of the game, or the team names without proper trademark and copyright info on it. groups cannot be larger than a certain size – cannot remember what that is – (charging or not charging is irrelevant to the breaking of copyright laws – but charging – in any way – including collections of soup or food even for homeless – could get the attention of the NFL and possibly the Feds – its a federal crime to violate the laws) and the projection cannot be larger than the largest television commercially avail would project…which I think is about 95 inches.
I was wrong – 55inches is the limit.
– only four TV’s at the same locatin can play the game and none can project not larger than 55 inches
The square footage of the viewing rooms must be within a certain range….
there are all kinds of rules and laws…
http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2015/01/articles/beware-of-the-trademark-and-copyright-issues-in-ads-and-promotions-involving-the-super-bowl/
http://www.copyrightcommunity.net/nfl-official-statement-provides-rules-for-church-super-bowl-parties
Whitney, I think “taking a stand” would be an apt description of what a church does by hosting or encouraging members to host a Super Bowl party. Not taking a stand—neutrality—would appropriately describe the church that decided no longer to say anything about the Super Bowl, wouldn’t it?
We are hosting fellowships in homes this year and providing a halftime devotional, encouraging classes to invite members and guests as an outreach. In the past, we have hosted this event at church, but at halftime, after about two hours, many people just left to go home. Here in Alabama, the NFL is just a place where Auburn and Alabama players have to go when they are forced to retire from college football.
It’s a tough call. Would we bear more kingdom fruit at church with a very low attendance or in homes where relationships can be built that might lead to genuine spiritual growth, decisions for Christ and participation in the life of the fellowship?
Wow. Antwaan Randle-El cannot make it up a flight of steps. Just wow.
I think this topic is worth considering. I will admit when I first read it my immediate thought was – not you too Jared! “More wussification!” – but upon further reflection this is what I am coming away with so far…
At the end of the day – I think this comes down to a freedom of conscience issue whereby Christians should extend grace to one another no matter which side of the issue they come down on.
When dealing with cultural issues (like Football) knowing that it can be “used” as a pathway to evangelism/discipleship – but also perceiving at the same time it *may* fall into a “gray area” as mentioned by Jared:
“…I do think that the ongoing revelations of ex-NFL players’ deteriorating bodies and brains should cause pastors to stop and ask whether or not they should encourage their people to fellowship around an event that allows for such carnage, and perhaps even encourage Christians to wonder whether or not we should support football as it is currently played in the NFL”
Three questions come to mind in considering this… (I realize I am listing these pretty simplistically and generalized.)
1. Do we actively reject and condemn football because of valid and sincere reasons mentioned in the OP and some of the comments?
2. Do we ignore issues raised and just completely embrace and endorse football?
3. Do we embrace the reality of footballs imprint on our culture, noting and considering the issues surrounding it, and yet, despite these, seek to use football (i.e. SB party’s) as a tool to reach out to people?
Honestly, I think I come down nearest option three – but I can see where some variation of option one might be a good place for some (maybe not actively condemning it, but intentionally not endorsing it) and I will not look down on fellow pastors and Christians for taking that position.
I will say that I think option two can be dangerous as it probably not a good idea to completely ignore arguments and wholly without consideration embrace anything in the culture.
Super b*** (I mean big game parties per NFL persnickety) are a method that seems to have lost some effectiveness in recent years. An observation though: I have never been to a typical Sunday night service on big game Sunday where anyone got saved but I have been to a big game party where someone did. I’ve also noticed (in my personal experience) that resistance to big game outreach has usually come from legalism, traditionalism, or dislike of football and not from anyone who thought people could be reached better by traditional services.
I once preached a half time service on Super Bowl when I was a young 22 year old preacher and we had 5 professions of faith.
Jared,
I haven’t read all the comments so forgive me if this is redundant.
I was very encouraged to hear you thinking through these issues. I’m the oddball among my friends that doesn’t like football – never have and most likely never will. Therefore, I have to be careful in critiquing it because it’s easy to be overly harsh toward something you don’t like anyway. But there do seem to be some things that need to be addressed, so I’m always thankful when brothers who do enjoy it are willing to put it to the test from a biblical worldview.
The one thing I’d add to the discussion (this may be the redundant part), is that in many churches football seems to border on idolatry for many people. I’ve known Christians that can talk football stats for hours but can’t muster a 60-second prayer in front of their own Sunday School class. So whether a pastor or church wants to support Superbowl parties or not seems to me to be a lesser issue. Address the affections of the heart and I believe then the question about Superbowl parties will be easier to discern. Again, I think that’s exactly what I see you (Jared) doing in this article – letting your love for Christ and His creation hold your other pursuits in check.
Grace and peace brothers, and remember that our unity in Christ should infinitely supersede preferences over a game.
It seems like getting hurt once wasn’t as big a deal as it is today.
When we were kids, we would get neighborhoods ball games together. We had a lot of kids and would have huge turnouts. We played baseball/softball, kickball, basketball, football. (We had a small driveway, and we would play no-dribble quarter-court with double-sized teams. Basketball often resembled a free-for-all melee with a basketball goal.)
The neighborhood was right next to the local elementary school, which had a full-sized football field. We could get full 11-man (and a few girls) teams with coaches and refs. We played full contact tackle football with no pads. My dad was an orthopedic PA, one of the first PAs in the country. He tended to more than one broken bone or dislocated joint that we produced.
Sometimes we dealt with matters of poor sportsmanship that could result in injuries. But I think having to deal with it taught us something of how to compete with a sense of restraint out of a need for civilized propriety and decorum. It’s not exactly what we always see in popular national sports today. Whether a church decides to sponsor a Superbowl party, or individuals in the church hold parties at their homes, it would be wise to take the opportunity to demonstrate how involvement in the sports culture can be done with an eye to the Kingdom so that God is honored.
Jim Pemberton,
I can relate to your comment and it brings up an observation I have had for some time. I shall form it as a question.
Jim Pemberton or anyone else, do you think a negative effect of electronic games and the lack of hours and hours of physical activity has caused kids to have less physical toughness and endurance than in the past?
I don’t think electronic games are blameworthy on their own. In fact, many of the factors involved are not blameworthy on their own: trends in parenting, Hollywood and other media, liberal school policies, etc.
But what I do think are the most significant contributions are two: ambulance-chasing lawyers and overzealous lawmakers. We fear litigation and social services. Who wants a ballgame on their property in case a kid gets hurt? Who wants SS nosing around and threatening to take your kids away because one of them got hurt? The solution anymore is to sign them up for an organized sport where they will be legally protected and get a trophy regardless of how well they did; and the kids get to listen to their parents yell at the coaches and the refs. Yeah – that’s a really good lesson.
You want your kids to go out and play, but not to get into trouble playing hard with the neighbors. So your kids are alone. It’s boring outside, so they come in and make contact with other kids on their electronic devices instead of making contact with them on the “ball field’ of someone’s back yard or a local public facility.
Oh, there are exceptions. I ran into my nephew riding his skateboard with some friends in the church parking lot recently. Our minister of administration might have come out and run the kids off because of the legal liability, although I know he would be all for kids being kids like this. (He was no different when he was young and he has raised his kids that way.) I didn’t say anything because he was out learning to make calculated risks. This is how kids learn. Not from taking risks in a game where you can reset back to the last saved location, and if you get “killed” you still get to get up off your butt and come eat supper.
Jim Pemberton is a real man!
“But what I do think are the most significant contributions are two: ambulance-chasing lawyers and overzealous lawmakers. We fear litigation and social services.”
Good point. As one who has dealt with a multitude of both in foster-care and adoption I can agree.
However, least I disrespect the good ones, let me state that I have had some interaction with some godly social workers and lawyers who work in the state system and family court. They went above and beyond their “job descriptions” to do what was best in the lives of children.
The view of one old Southern Baptist; Even if you don’t agree, perhaps you’ll get a “kick” out of it.
“We favor safe, helpful athletics in our schools, but to say the least, our Christian colleges are going far astray when they lend their influence to the training of boys to kick and trample their fellow students to death. We are against the murderous game (football), root and branch…If some of our over-enthusiastic youths that attend Baylor are bound to test their kicking abilities, let them cross legs with a burro. It will be fully as civilized and much less dangerous.” — J. B. Cranfill in The Baptist Standard, 1899
Well…Baylor really didn’t learn to play football until just the last few years anyway 🙂
Wow