The Super Bowl brought an official end to the 2017-18 football season.
Out of courtesy to our international subscribers, I’ll rephrase: The Super Bowl brought an official end to the 2017-18 American football season.
As a fan, I enjoyed watching the games again this year. I found it especially interesting that the two biggest takeaways from the season both occurred in the final game. And they both revolved around the concept of being a good teammate.
On the professional level, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles goes from uncelebrated backup to Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. His story is fascinating.
The Eagles starting quarterback—Carson Wentz—was in the midst of an incredible season. He was playing fantastic and was the odds-on favorite to win the league’s MVP award, until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the next to the last game of the year.
Enter backup quarterback Nick Foles, who just a few months earlier was all but out of the game for good.
Foles’ story is a lesson in resiliency, persistence, and patience. But more than anything, it is a lesson in being a good teammate. Even though he wasn’t getting any playing time, he humbly prepared and made sure he was ready if and when his team needed him.
When that time came, he stepped up.
Go back a month ago to the NCAA Football Championship game between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia and a similar good teammate situation played out with Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts—only he didn’t step up, he stepped back.
Hurts had been his team’s starting quarterback the entire season, and he had played well. With Alabama struggling offensively in the National Championship game, Hurts’ coaches made the difficult decision to replace him at halftime with freshman backup Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa would go on to throw one of the greatest passes in college football history to give Alabama the overtime victory, and become the hero of the game.
It would have been understandable for Hurts to be hurt by his coach’s decision to bench him. He could have been jealous of Tagovailoa’s success. He could have even rejoiced a little bit when Tagovailoa threw an ill-timed interception late in the game.
But he did none of that.
Hurts demonstrated class. He supported his teammates. And he supported his coach’s decision. He stepped back because it was what was best for his team in that moment.
There were plenty of camera shots of Carson Wentz showing support for Nick Foles during the Super Bowl. But Wentz was injured and unable to play. It’s a lot easier to be supportive under those circumstances.
Hurts was healthy and able to play, yet he appeared to be every bit as supportive of his replacement as Wentz was of his.
Hurts put the team ahead of himself.
Good leaders don’t judge members of their team by an isolated lapse in performance. They judge them by their complete body of work. Things like class, leadership, example, past performance, and sacrifice all play a part in that assessment.
Good teammates understand this, and it is why they are able to step back when it is needed.
I hope one day, Nick Foles and Jalen Hurts look back on their lives and recognize the tremendous gift they gave everyone who watched the games. Their gift was a gift of example—an example of what it means to be a good teammate.
I think we can all thank them for sharing that gift with us.
As always…Good teammates care. Good teammates share. Good teammates listen. Go be a good teammate!
