During this season of college (American) football,
we are following this set of characteristics for our team –
Saluki
Football Players are:
Ø Consistent
Ø Disciplined
Ø Trusted
Ø Leaders
Ø Excellent
During
the preseason I led teambuilding sessions on each characteristic and each week
during the season my game day chapels will feature one of these character
traits.
This
past week the theme was: Saluki Football
Players are Excellent.
After
a very brief introduction to the theme, I asked for a volunteer to pray and a
junior linebacker did so.
The
outline of my talk follows.
1. What
does excellence look like in a football uniform? Look around the room and you
will see several of your teammates we would say are excellent in what they do. Excellence
is best defined as a mindset that leads directly to excellent performance. During
the 1993-1995 seasons, the University of Nebraska had an excellent running
back. Listen to these statistics. In those three seasons, he had 506 carries,
3,102 yards rushing, that’s 6.18 yards per carry, and he scored 33 touchdowns.
A friend of mine was on the Cornhuskers’ coaching staff during that era and I
asked him what made that back so special. He said, “Every day at practice when
we would run full team plays, he would carry the ball all the way to the end
zone. No matter how close or far that was, he always took it to the end zone.
When we said we were losing time by his doing that, he replied, ‘Coach, I
intend to score every time I touch the ball.’ We decided we could adjust to
that.” That is an excellent mindset that led directly to excellent performance.
2.
In a similar way, the Apostle Paul wrote
to his friends in Philippi from prison. In Philippians chapter 4, verse 8 we
read, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,
if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell
on these things.”
3. The
Apostle wrote to his friends about their mindset. He called them to dwell on a
particular set of ideas.
·
Whatever is true – fill your mind with truth,
not error. Look for what is true, rather than constantly searching for error.
·
Whatever is honorable – dwell on things worthy of
honor.
·
Whatever is right – rather than all that is
wrong, contemplate what is right to do.
·
Whatever is pure – corruption fills the minds
of some. Our minds must seek purity.
·
Whatever is lovely – much of society is
obsessed with the ugliest parts of human nature. Dwell on all things lovely.
·
Whatever is of good repute – think about the
most respectable things in life.
·
Things worthy of praise – the matters of life
that lead to praising God and others.
·
Dwell on these things to develop an excellence
mindset.
4. I
challenged our coaches and players to fill their minds with these things.
·
Whatever is true – fill your mind with the
things that are true about football and your teammates.
·
Whatever is honorable – dwell on the things in
college football that are worthy of honor.
·
Whatever is right – rather than all that is
wrong with the sport or our team, focus on what is right about them.
·
Whatever is pure – rather than contemplating
perceived corruption in the sport, think about all that is pure in it.
·
Whatever is lovely – fill your minds with all
that is lovely in your college football experience.
·
Whatever is of good repute – think about the
most respectable things you experience in this sport.
·
Things worthy of praise – consider the things
that would make you say, “Attaboy” to your teammates.
5. Gentlemen,
dwell on these things to develop an excellence mindset that will naturally lead
to excellent performance.
6. I
wrapped up the chapel by having everyone to stand, taking the hands of those
around their tables, and we prayed the Lord’s Prayer together.
This
simple, brief, and direct chapel talk is emblematic of how I approach this
grand privilege. I aim to inspire and to motivate, both. I want our coaches and
players to love God with their whole hearts, and to play great football, both.
My commitment to Christ demands that I speak from scripture. My commitment to
the team demands that I speak directly and clearly. My commitment to the head
coach demands that I speak briefly. For twenty-five years, now I have sought to
fulfill all the demands and to both inspire and motivate.
