No Apologies In Football?

The injury to New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady, was big news on the first week of the NFL season. On a tackle by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard, Brady incurred what may be a season-ending injury. Pollard hit Brady low, and some questioned whether the hit was a “dirty” one, whether Pollard intended to try to injure Brady.

Pollard’s response to the hit was quick. He started apologizing to Brady right away. Pollard argued that if it had been intentional, he wouldn’t have apologized. According to SI.com’s Peter King, Pollard said, “It was most definitely a clean play. It was an accident. It’s tough. It’s football. I’m sorry it happened, obviously. I can’t do anything but apologize to him. I went to Herm [Chiefs coach Herman Edwards] after the play and told him how sorry I was.” He added, “I’ll pray for [Brady].”

I don’t know what Pollard’s religious faith may be, but his reasoning seems sound. He genuinely did not want Brady to be injured, the injury was an accident. He apologized, not because he was wrong for trying to tackle Brady, but because the result of the tackle was so unfortunate for Brady and for the competition.

As I understand it from a Christian perspective, competition is at its best and most God-glorifying when both sides are putting forth their best efforts. A true competitor will not want his or her opponent to be injured, but will want to participate in the contest when both players are at their best. By “striving together,” (the root meaning of the word competition), the players are able to perform in ways that reveal how “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) we are.

Pollard’s apology reminds me of the line from the movie, A League of Their Own, when the manager berates a player for her emotion, saying, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Of course there is crying, and there are apologies, in baseball, in football, and in every other competitive sport… because the games do mean something to us, and we want everyone to be at their best in order to do their best.