“There’s No ‘I’ in Team!”

This week I finished another year around our sun and celebrated my day of birth.  The day before, I received an unexpected package in the mail from my oldest that was a complete surprise.  For the last several years I’ve made clear to my progeny that although I’m a lifelong Chiefs fan, I’m not a fan of player’s jerseys.  I am fully aware that over the last decade or so these jerseys have become so ubiquitous as evidence of one’s true “fandom” that scores of fans have bought jersey after jersey after jersey, many of which become obsolete within a few years as individual players move on, as they always do.  Our recent family outing to Arrowhead on the coldest weekend of the last several years last month only confirmed this fact.  For me, my following and rooting for the Chiefs transcends any one player or era, making these “halcyon” days all the more meaningful.  My son’s gift, aware of my issue with jerseys, threads the needle by using my number from past “glory” days of play and placing my name on the back.  Well played son.  Well played.  My chagrin over this “jersey craze” is rooted years of playing the game of football in my youth and seeing it then, and now, as the ultimate team sport.  One of the things coaches preached often at every level in my playing career was just how important each member of the team was to the team’s ultimate success.  Each person on the field as well as those on the sidelines that may be called upon to play at any given moment (Thank you Chad Henne!) and each staff member, from the head coach down to the lowliest equipment staff have key roles to play.  If any one of the above is not prepared or capable, the team will likely not be successful.  The mantra I and scores of other football players (and players of all team sports) have hammered into our heads is this, “There’s no ‘I’ in team!” 

It seems to me that football (and yes other team sports), at least in this respect, is emblematic about life.  No matter who you are, where you are, how talented you are, what you accomplish, or who you are related to or know, your life is but a small part of something much bigger.  As a student of history and religion I’m reminded often how for most of human history this fact was a given for peoples and cultures across our world.  Life for human beings and all other life forms is fundamentally situated in community.  We need each other and “I” doesn’t really exist authentically without some sense of “we.” And that “we” is not just about our place within the human family, but extends to all living things. The way I tend to put it is this: “Life is not about me (or us); I am (We are) about life.” My life matters, yes, but only when understood within the context of the ever evolving web of life around us.  I recently watched a British series called “Our Universe” on Netflix that unfolds in fascinating ways just how connected life is across our planet, and how the stuff of our ever expanding universe is within us, and all of life around us, every moment of every day.  It focuses upon our sun, the elements central to the formation of our solar system, and how those things impact life in fundamental ways.  Well worth the watch if you get a chance. By the time most of you read this the Chiefs/Bengals AFC Championship game will likely already be done, and we’ll either be gearing up for another Super Bowl or putting away our gear in anticipation of what next season will bring.  Win or lose we’re fans. It’s what we do. And yes, I’ll be sporting that fancy new jersey to watch. 

Brian is a Family Services Coordinator and Supplemental Assistant Professor of the Christian Heritage.