As I sit and watch Pittsburgh finish up defeating Miami in a surprising and impressive effort, I realize quite a few things:

First, we have finally reached the moment that much of mainstream America has waited since early February for, the NFL season.  The greatest league in the world opened on the biggest stage in the world with the champs at home, the way it should be.  Yes, it pains me to call the Steelers the champs, but they earned so I'll do it.  Everyone loves the NFL because of the parody, the pagentry, the peril, the pride, the pure provocation of passion that people long for is found on that field. 

Second, football means many things to many people.  To the people on the field, its the greatest job in the world.  To the fans, its a reason to paint your face, talk trash, and be a part of something without having to pay any physical price (except the anguish of watching your team lose).  To the League, cha-ching. 

Third, as exciting as tonight is, for many people all over the country, the real football season starts tomorrow, or started last Friday night/Saturday morning.  It may not be true for many people in Pittsburgh, Miami, Detroit, New York, or other major American cities, but for many of us in rural America, high school football is football.  Family football.

These are the fields we played on.  We watch our sons, nephews, brothers, grandsons, strap on the shoulder pads and headgear to engage in one of the few truly primitive actions our society still allows us to enjoy.  Louie Lastick, the overweight character in Disney's Remeber the Titans, encapsulated the feelings of so many teenage males when he quipped, "I figure if I have to be in school, I might as well hit some people while I'm at it."  It's amazing that a game that allows kids to do things that they'd be arrested for in any other context, teaches them such things as teamwork, sacrifice, persistance, toughness, and most of all, family.

I've been coaching football for only 3 years.  This, my 4th year, is the first time I've been a full-time varsity level coach.  Tonight my wife and I hosted my first and second team defensive lineman (the position I coach) at our house for dinner and fellowship.  It was amazing to see their faces when I invited them over (this is not a normal tradition at our school).  They loved being here and we loved having them.  Some of them don't have much at home, so this is their only family.  This is their football family.  They learn that there are things bigger than them, a lesson that too many kids learn too late or not at all.  They learn how to care about others.  They experience people who care about them, no matter their level of talent.  It's not about what they give us, but what we can give them. 

I love the NFL like many of you.  I make my weekend schedule around the Seahawks' kickoff time.  However, its these kids that make football great.  Its truly the family sport.  You'll never hear of any of the kids we hosted tonight.  I'll never hear of the vast majority of the kids under the "Friday night lights" of your town either.  However, it is they that make football.  It is them that this game was made for.  It is them that take the lessons of this game with them forever.  God bless football.  God bless football players.