Fortitude is at the Heart of Football

There is a sporting event going on, the World Cup Soccer which is a great sport. They are talking about needing instant replay for some of the bad calls by the officials and referees. My story this month is not about soccer, even though all the attention is there right now, I want to talk about the American football game seems to have incorporated all of the elementsof European sports like soccer and rugby. There is an element in the American game that soccer or rugby does not have like fortitude. I have five examples of where American football displays fortitude, its toughness, in brief.

1.John Hannah - Considered one of the finest linemen ever to play football, John has been a solid part of the Patriots’ offensive attack since his rookie season of 1973. The story on him was his thumb that would dislocate. John would pull it back into place and never leave the game.

2.Drew McQueen Bledsoe - A former American football quarterback in the National Football League, best known as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots from 1993-2001. During one of his games, Drew fractured his middle finger, and instead of leaving the game he taped the finger and continued to play.

3.Terrell Owens - An American football wide receiver. He is currently a free agent. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, and former holder of the league single-game reception record, Owens has been one of the dominant receivers of his era. When he was in Dallas he broke a finger and told the coach he would need three weeks off. His coach told him “If you’re hurt you play, if your injured you’re off and a finger is just a hurt.”

4.Ronald “Ronnie” Lott - A former American football player who starred as a cornerback, free safety and strong safety in college football and the NFL. He is most well known for his hard hits on opposing players. He once cut off a portion of his pinkie in order to return to a game. A Pro Bowler at both cornerback and safety, Lott is widely considered one of the best defensive backs in NFL history. Funny thing, he won 5 championship rings, and only had four fingers to wear them on.

5.Last would be a flashback of my football career in High School. I had a finger situation as well. As a player I was the defensive line against Salem Massachusetts. It was a good game, we recovered 3 fumbles and we had a pile up. Ten men were piled up and I was at the bottom and I had the football. After a few short minutes I felt fingers reaching into my helmet, scratching my face. So I bit down once they came near my mouth. Once my team came together again one of my team mates started talking about the other team, “They are monsters, someone in that pile bit my fingers!” So really I had bitten my own team mate.

In closing I would like to congratulate two young Atlantic Canada hockey players for getting drafted into the NHL. The first one, Morgan Ellis of Tyne Valley and of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at No. 117was drafted to the Montreal Canadians. Also Brandon Gormleyfrom Murray River, he was drafted to the Phoenix Coyotes. Big congratulations to these two young men and to their families and coaches. Check out next month and read about my baseball stories.