It's football season! Whether you like College or Professional football, for the next 5 months every Saturday, Sunday, Monday & Thursday night, football will be televised. It's amazing to me how much this sport has grown, how people go nuts over fantasy football and how much money people make and lose betting on games. It is a violent sport and unfortunately, some players have been injured severely throughout the years the game has been played. I feel bad for the Miami Dolphins quarterback who suffered a concussion in game number two. I can't believe that when the sport was first invented, players wore leather helmets with no faceguards and had thin shoulder pads. That's crazy!
My blog today is all about fumbles in life which are mistakes that we make by way of bad decisions, judgement or sometimes errors on our part that we do unfortunately. In football, whenever a player loses the football, they call it a fumble. Almost every game that you watch, you get to see this happen. There were two very famous fumbles in NFL history. One of them involved my favorite team, the New York Giants. My brother-in-law, David loved that game. I didn't! It was November 19, 1978. The Giants were at home playing the dreaded Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants were leading 17-12 with a little under 2 minutes left in the game. The Eagles were trying very hard to score, but the Giants intercepted a pass. We all thought the game was over. I actually got up, told my Dad I was going to hang out with some friends, maybe play some football and be home before dinner. While I was out disaster struck for the Giants. All they had to do was run two plays, just have the quarterback kneel down twice and they would win. Pisarcik kneels down on the first play. The second play would change the fate of both teams for many years. The Giants buffoon Offensive Coordinator decides to call a play, a handoff. It was supposed to be Joe Pisarcik, their quarterback handing off to running back Larry Csonka. Instead, Joe Pisarcik collides with Csonka, he fumbles and Herman Edwards who plays for the Eagles picks up the ball and runs 26 yards for the touchdown. Eagles win and Giants lose. I still get mad at that game even to this day! When I got home, my father told me "The Giants lost!" I thought he was kidding because my dad was a kidder like me. He was serious and it was all over the news. I can't imagine being at that game, but I also think about the fans who left early to "beat the traffic." Giants' fans call it "The Fumble" while Eagles fans call it "The Miracle at the Meadowlands." The very next day the Giants fired their Offensive Coordinator and at the end of the season the entire coaching staff was fired. One player fumbles the football, and this causes coaches to lose their jobs as well as some players.
The second famous fumble occurred in January 1988. It was the Cleveland Browns visiting the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Denver. It was the AFC Championship Game, and the winner would go to Super Bowl 22 and face the Washington Redskins. Cleveland was deep in Denver territory trailing by a touchdown. The Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar handed the ball off to running back Ernest Byner. Byner was heading towards the end zone to tie the game, and all he had to do was beat two defenders. Unfortunately, Byner got hit and fumbled the ball. Denver would recover the fumble and win the game. The Cleveland Browns have never made it to the Super Bowl...ever!
Sports Psychologists have always told players never to think about what they did wrong or to "dwell on it." I often wonder how Ralph Branca felt for several years after he gave up a game winning home run to Bobby Thompson in 1951 that sent the New York Baseball Giants to the World Series. Or how about Bill Buckner, who let a ground ball go through his legs in game 6 of the 1986 World Series. How do you think he felt? The Mets would win the game and then win game 7 to win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Or how about Scott Norwood missing a game winning field goal that would have made the Buffalo Bills World Champions in Super Bowl 25. Instead, The New York Giants would win the game 20-19. I realize these are not "fumbles: in these games, but they were crucial mistakes.
I realize I am giving you sports analogies about fumbling. I also realize none of us are professional athletes. At least I don't think any of you are. Let's think about how many times we have "fumbled" in life. I confess. I have "fumbled" several times at my job, in ministry, with my family, in relationships, when I drive my car and from words I have used. Here is another confession. It's going to happen again several times throughout the rest of my life in all the areas I have mentioned. A fumble per se in life is a huge mistake we might make. If you are like me, I'm sure you will admit that you have learned from your mistakes. Fumbles and mistakes are all a part of our lives. Nobody in their right mind ever says, "I'm going to mess up today and show everyone how incompetent I am! Let them see that I am a complete failure!" No, I don't think so!
Throughout my life I have learned from my fumbles and mistakes. Whether it occurs at church, at home, in my marriage, at work or in everyday life, I have learned a lot from those mistakes. When I have made mistakes with what I say to others or just doing a boneheaded thing, I have learned from it. It was never easy, and it certainly was difficult owning up to it. I have learned not to make excuses, not to let it "eat at me" and certainly not to blame others. When we fumble in life, WE fumble in life. I'm sure in that Giants game I mentioned, Larry Csonka could have blamed his quarterback, Joe Pisarcik. Bill Buckner could have blamed his manager for leaving him in the game with a sore ankle or even the field conditions at Shea Stadium. Ernest Byner could have said, "That ball was too slippery. I didn't have a good grip on it." Fumbles in life happen all the time. The key is for all of us to learn from them. That's how we grow! It's never too late!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!
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