Into the Fire

Yes, football season is over. For Seahawks fans it ends in defeat after a controversial call at the one yard line. Some people rejoice at the end of the season because they have zero interest in this game, don't understand the hype or devotion attached to it, believe all the negatives about the sport and players, and they've decided it's much ado about nothing.

Not my family. The shock of how Sunday's Super Bowl ended resonates like a gong. The loss caused major distress at the moment, anger, frustration, sadness, and a multitude of other emotions. As I've said before, football provides a release from the ugliness of this world. Yes, it has its own drama throughout the on and off season with current players, past players, and future players in the NFL. It's a community that gets a magnifying glass put upon it – sometimes rightfully and often wrongly.

Right now the NFL is suffering from poor politically correct leadership, over punishing some players and letting others slide. Whatever is the hot issue with its fringe observers, who have no interest in this sport but perceive themselves as the measuring sticks for morality, becomes the focus of this Commissioner and his crew. Their policies have undergone new revisions, many of them ruining players' lives for the short term and made based on hysteria from the fringe mob rather than the actual characters of the individuals involved.

Some of the players have brought their own punishments into play using terrible judgment in their actions. Others have defied decency and set their own demises into action. Still others have been caught in the crossfire of a politically correct rendition of what should be right, not what is right.

When we select our favorite characters, we "adopt" them into our family. We wear their jerseys, we pray for them, we defend them, we celebrate their accomplishments. They become one of us. They're important to us.

We're not ashamed of our love for the game or for some of the players. It's a treasure to be able to watch them play and hopefully see them excel.

There's an east coast bias that runs through this world. In the media, in sports, in politics. To say it's disappointing is an understatement. We are west coast through and through, even though Seattle is regrettably politically correct and progressive. But while watching the players on the field, we can ignore the politics for 60 minutes or thereabouts and watch men doing what God has gifted them to do for a season of their lives. That's why to some of us: it's more than a game.

Father, please bring your healing to many of the players who left it all on the field of play. Help them look to you for the decisions they must make and realize that you alone have given them their skills. Bless their lives as they look to you for what they need. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.