Sporting Life,
Victor Penney:
I’m laying down the law in my home ahead of the Super Bowl. As a father, it’s my right and duty to lead and set the tone throughout the year, but especially ahead of one of the biggest sporting events on the calendar.
As a man, as the head of the household, it falls on me to make sure my family has its priorities straight, and let’s face it: it’s easy to lose focus of what’s important when distractions come along.
So, this is the way it’s going to be: Faith. Family. Football.
That’s the order.
It’s a good order, too.
First God, then family, and finally football.
I’m not alone in setting this order of priorities, though – in fact, I’m on the same page as one of the most talked about quarterbacks in the National Football League this year.
Philip Rivers made headlines with his brief return to the Indianapolis Colts back in December. The 44-year-old initially retired from playing professional football in January 2021. He had 17 seasons under his belt at the time, the majority of those with the San Diego (and later Los Angeles) Chargers. Although he never played in a Super Bowl, when he retired he was sixth all-time in passing yards and fifth in touchdown passes, but he just couldn’t pass on one more run in the pros.
What could he say? The Colts made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, so he put down his clipboard as a high school football coach in Fairhope, Alabama, and rejoined his old team after Indy’s starting QB tore his Achilles tendon.
Some critics might say he should have stayed retired, because he didn’t help Indianapolis win any of the three games he played in, but Rivers didn’t see it that way. He told reporters after his first game back, the one where his team narrowly lost to the Seattle Seahawks, that he had no regrets about returning to action, except for not winning.
“The guaranteed safe bet is to go home or to not go for it,” he told reporters while fighting back tears, “and the other one is, ‘Shoot, let’s see what happens.’ I hope in that sense that can be a positive to some young boys.”
I love the message, but what I love even more is the way Rivers has never shied away from sharing his Catholic faith with the public and his family. He has 10 children, by the way, seven daughters and three sons, with his wife Tiffany – he also happens to be a grandfather – but through the years, he never let the weight of being a star athlete get in the way of his priorities.
In February of 2012, he told the National Catholic Register that his faith in Christ is what grounds him the most, not his stats in the box score after a game: “If I put football above my faith and family, I think I’d be worse off as a player, not better. It’s a matter of putting things in the right order, which helps you to do each of those things as they ought to be done. Avoiding idolatry helps you to have the right perspective on life, which in turn helps you to live more effectively. Faith comes first, then family, then football.”
Rivers opened up in that same interview about a question I’ve had for a while now: how does a good Christian football player handle the commitment to his faith when the majority of the games he’s playing in are on the Lord’s Day? The answer was simple: “It’s funny, because it’s always been a dream of mine to play in the NFL, but I was concerned about the games being played on Sundays. I love to play football but wanted to be able to attend Mass as well. Now, I do that by going to a vigil Mass or an early Sunday morning one. Once I’ve received the Eucharist, then I’m prepared to go out and play.”
Another great answer.
Life is always better when we put God first, then our family, and then everything else, whether it’s football, finances, or whatever that priority is for you. I had this exact conversation with my wife and kids (when I was laying down the law) about having a rightly ordered life. If Super Bowl Sunday means missing Mass or interfering with our prayer life, it’s not worth it. Why? Because the idea isn’t to fit God into our busy lives – it’s to fit everything else around Him.
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