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 For the Week of February 8, 2010by Rubel Shelly Super Bowl XLIV was played yesterday. I am writing this piece about three hours before kickoff. Yes, I plan to watch the game. Yes, I have a favorite team to cheer during the contest. And, yes, I likely will be talking as much (or more) about the commercials as the football game Monday. Here are my pre-game thoughts. With all that has been said lately about the failure of public figures to step up as role models or to exhibit behaviors young people would do well to imitate, we had a refreshing alternative this weekend. In a culture that does too much to put its athletes on pedestals, at least we have had the opportunity to talk about family, charities, and positive images with Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. There is a special irony that both Manning and Brees are connected to New Orleans and its NFL team. Peyton’s father, Archie, was quarterback for the Saints from 1971 to 1982. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the senior Mannings were incredibly proud as sons Peyton and Eli helped with relief efforts on the city’s behalf; then, when Drew Brees came to the Saints in 2006, he immediately embraced the rebuilding efforts of his new hometown. Before all that, Manning and Brees initially met through a phone call. When Brees was still a college senior at Purdue and had thrown a dramatic 68-yard touchdown pass to win over Ohio State in 2000, Manning phoned him to congratulate him. “I’m like ‘What’s Peyton Manning calling a college kid for?’ ” Brees remembers. “Peyton said, ‘One of the best college games I’ve ever seen.’ I’ve always had a lot of respect for him.” Peyton and wife Ashley have made major financial gifts to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis – so much so that it was renamed Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent in 2007. Drew and Brittany Brees have similarly blessed Children’s Hospital in New Orleans with donations, fund-raising, and involvement with patients. Both are giving back in ways that make a difference. For all the cynicism that can be generated when celebrities act boorishly and irresponsibly, Manning and Brees highlight the fact that many others use their celebrity status to bless others as well as to further their own interests. All I know to say is this: May their tribe increase. And may God protect them from the dual temptation to self-absorption and self-destruction that always lurks nearby. As my wife gets ready to put pizza in the oven for friends who are coming over for the game, I’m doing a little version of the happy dance at my computer. It is a little celebration over the fact that there is more than one way to be a winner. Closer to kickoff now, I see only winners in these two worthy combatants.   |
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