For 41 years, the Shamrocks football team of the Basilian-run Detroit Catholic Central High School had a coach named Tom Mach who lived the motto of the school, “Teach Me Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge.” He retired earlier this year after bringing 10 state titles to the school, and a whole lot of legacy.
There are so many legendary stories surrounding football teams like the Shamrocks, or players and coaches who lived their Catholic faith, that the connections between football and Catholicism deserve a closer look. More importantly, the football legends of these schools often become part of the school’s culture, and in the process they provide a convincing defense for the importance of tradition.
Here’s another story that proves my point. Former Coach Bob Ladouceur of the De La Salle Spartans football team in California had even more success than Coach Mach. Ladouceur led his team to 151 consecutive victories and 14 straight state championships in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
As is depicted in the movie “When the Game Stands Tall,” Coach Ladoucer (played by Jim Caviezel) made faith central to his coaching style. His team prayed before games and held “chapel sessions” where teammates read and reflected on Scripture verses, then read their “commitment cards” wherein they made a promise to their team before every game. The team had a number of other pre-game traditions, which not only helped make them a great team but also reminded them who they were and what they stood for. Even if there were teammates who didn’t share the coach’s faith, the traditions based on faith brought the team together. It also gave a deeper dimension to the game they played, as the players saw football not only as an opportunity to compete but to develop in character.
In a news interview Coach Ladoucer said, “When does faith and anything not come together? I mean, you carry your faith everywhere, and you can’t take it off like your shirt or anything like that. It’s a part of you.”
Isn’t that what all practicing Catholics strive for: to make their faith such an integral part of their lives and help others do the same?
Of course there are many other examples of Catholicism and football working together so harmoniously, like Notre Dame’s Hail Mary pass, the story of Texas Longhorn safety Freddie Steinmark, the exemplary Catholic faith of NFL quarterback Phillip Rivers or the very name of the New Orleans Saints, who are so named because they were accepted into the NFL on All Saints Day, 1967. The list of examples can go on.
So why are there so many profound connections between the Catholic faith and football? Maybe we could look to former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Danny Abramowicz’s show on EWTN “Crossing the Goal” for the answer. Abramowicz models his show after a sports show, “encouraging viewers to get in spiritual shape.” It isn’t too different from the concept behind Catholic Men for Jesus rallies, which excels in drawing parallels between living the faith and being a courageous, respectable, responsible man. It is good for men to look up to other men who possess these qualities, so naturally many men are inspired in seeing how the Catholic faith is infused into the lifestyle of so many successful athletes and coaches who also possess such qualities.
It goes deeper than that, though. While football and every other sport are games we play to placate our competitive spirit, somewhere in all of that there is a manifestation of the human spirit in all its glory. So when the game stands tall, so does faith in God for those who have it because God can use anything to reach us, especially a sport that so often brings out such a virtuous display of the human spirit time and time again.
David Kilby is a freelance writer for The Monitor. He attends St. Isaac Jogues Parish, Marlton, and writes for www.ramblingspirit.com.