Football season is over. Allow me to clarify, the part of football season I enjoy the most is over and of course I am talking about my kids’ football season. Don’t get me wrong, drinking beer and watching Saturday and Sunday football is always fun for me too but watching my boys play is where I derive my greatest joy during the season.

Indulge me, if you will again, I want to speak on my oldest son right now.

He is not the big kid out there by any stretch. In fact, he is probably one of the smaller ones. He has never been accused of having speed. He is not the strongest either. When we introduce him to our friends they all look at him and say “You’re the one who plays football, really?” He is not an imposing fellow at all so, at first glance, football coaches see a respectful and coachable young man but not much more, that is, until he straps it up.

What he does possess cannot be seen. It cannot be coached. It cannot be learned. It cannot be measured by a scale, a barbell, or a stopwatch.

What is it? Is it desire? Is it drive? Is it some inner fire? Pick any motivational cliché you like but it will not properly describe what moves him. No, what moves him is much greater.

It’s love.

Sounds funny huh, even corny? What is so menacing about love? What is so dangerous about love? Think about it for a second; there is no other force on this planet that will cause human beings to face down their most horrifying fears and march into them head on but for love. A person will disregard pain, fatigue and insurmountable odds to pursue an end strictly and only for love. It causes us to sacrifice. It causes us to ignore self and become something more than we ever thought we could become.

That is what he possesses. That is what causes him to step on that field every day. It is a love for the game, for his school, and most of all, for his team. When you face a player who plays for love then size, strength, and speed are not deciding factors.

When you face a player who plays for love, you are facing a beast.