Packers, Presidents and Prime Ministers

Nine days until Super Bowl forty-five. Here in Cheeseland the chatter is nonstop and the excitement is palpable. (I never knew what that word meant until I started working with medical doctors.) In the middle of all the talk about whose quarterback has the edge and whose defense is more dominating, I had a random thought today.

Five great questions of life: Life * Love * Learning * Labor * Leadership

Packers, Presidents and Prime Ministers

Nine days until Super Bowl forty-five. Here in Cheeseland the chatter is nonstop and the excitement is palpable. (I never knew what that word meant until I started working with medical doctors.) In the middle of all the talk about whose quarterback has the edge and whose defense is more dominating, I had a random thought today.

For some of these players, Sunday, February 6 will be the most glorious day of their lives.

In other words, it's all downhill from there. It's a shallow thought, in a way, but grown men will cry and spray champagne when they win that day. Obviously it's a big deal.

The oldest player on the Packer roster is Donald Driver at 35. The Steelers have two guys who are 36. You can't even be president of the United States until you're 35. John F. Kennedy was the youngest at 43. Canada's youngest prime minister was Joe Clark, a day shy of 40.

So it's fair to say that political glory begins where sports glory ends. The overlap is statistically almost insignificant. To make it more interesting, name me a player who has carried significant societal influence beyond retirement from sports. The list is short.


Bill Bradley was a US Senator and presidential candidate after basketball. That's pretty good. Michael Jordan became a sportswear tycoon. That's pretty good too, but not as glorious as 6 championships and 5 MVP's. Commentators don't count. Sorry.

The compelling aspect of Brett Favre's story is that he seemed to understand better than anyone that once your football career is done, your glory is gone. Just like Apollo Creed and Rocky, if you're not a fighter then what are you?

In a way presidents, prime ministers and quarterbacks face the same fate in different life seasons. Once you're a former president, what are you?

Let me go a bit deeper now...perhaps you're ahead of me. Public glory is far from the pinnacle of human existence. I sometimes wonder if I've got it all on Brett Favre. His career glory has finally ended, mine has barely begun. Meanwhile, I've enjoyed a fairly quiet life tucking my family in to bed almost every night.

I've got dreams, he's got memories. Which one of us is really living?

We idolize the stars who rocket to success, but God's path to lifelong maturity and leadership is typically longer and includes failure. That's a 30-something realization I would love for every 20-something Jesus-follower to begin to grasp. There's freedom in it, and hope.

So, yes, I'm all into the hubbub of the run-up to the big game. But true glory? None of that will really happen that day. Punters and presidents can all make a difference in the world, but fitting into God's redemptive plans for humanity is out there for every one of us!