Watching NFL football is a favorite American pastime. The demand for excellence the sport imposes on its athletes may account for its popularity. Save for war, there's no better showcase for heroism. And that commitment to excellence is required of everyone involved in sports, not merely football players. I once ran the Chicago Marathon.
That day a woman from Kenya broke the world record in the marathon distance.
It was one of the greatest moments in sports history. Yet everyone who ran that day had their great moment.
Dick Kazmaier, upon receiving the coveted Heisman Trophy, said, "I learned [from football] all the lessons you don't learn from a textbook. I learned about dealing with people, with adversity, and with a competitive climate."
Kazmaier went on to serve as director of the American Red Cross, trustee of Princeton University, chairman of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, and president of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.
Sports? Nothing else this side of actual combat will help us to pursue excellence, to be dedicated to something, and to give ourselves wholeheartedly to some project.