Two weeks ago today, I started my 21st year of teaching at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco. This marks my 28th year in the classroom and a Sweet 16 for the course, Sports and Spirituality. Wow.
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| Justin Buzzard is also the author of a book "Date Your Wife." |
This might sound strange, but I still use a textbook.
Strange? you ask. How’s that? The required reading can be found online. Several courses use a collection of articles or journals. But the reader I once used has been replaced by On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport, and it’s far better because of it. Thank you, Drs. Hoven, Carney, and Engel!
Although one of my seniors asked, “Who ever reads the introduction?” I politely informed him that we would—and explained why it’s important. Not only does it explain what the Canadian among the three authors believes God created on the Eighth Day (his answer is Wayne Gretzky), it defines theology and, more specifically, what a theology of sport is.
The “why” of a theology of sport is the question we will wrestle with from start to finish. I have more than a few answers.
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| Max and Jay are two of the three authors |
The truth is, however, that one need not look long or hard to find one. And my students didn’t have to look very far. An answer—a compelling example—was taking the field just 45 miles south of our campus.
In case you haven’t heard, allow me to introduce you to Justin Buzzard.
Standing 6'2" tall and weighing 210 lbs, Buzzard certainly looks the part. He played football at Whitworth University decades ago—but an injury during his freshman year ended his college playing career. The father of three boys, his eldest son encouraged him to try football again after seeing a video of a 60 year old man, Tom Green, playing college football. Buzzard spoke with the coaching staff at San Jose City College to determine if he could try out. He underwent conditioning summer practice and became a Jaguar. Playing at defensive end, he proudly wears the number 48—reflective of the age he will turn in September!To the surprise of some of my students, Buzzard is also the pastor of Garden City Church (which he founded 15 years ago). He sees his return to football as "an expression of his faith, not separate from it." In an interview on Fox News, Todd Piro asks him, How has your faith and your relationship with God guided you on this journey? He responds,
I think God cares about all of life and not just some separate—religious slice of you and football is a lot of fun and as a man, it's something I love doing. So, as I wrestled and thought through, "Do I really want to do this crazy thing?" I thought "God thinks football is a fun thing." I'm going to go for it and I'm going to enjoy it. I pray a lot that he will protect me from injury. I know what I am doing is high risk. I've been praying big, specific prayers. God, protect me. I want to go the distance and help my team—San Jose City College in anyway that I can.
If that's not a theology of sport what is?!
But one person’s personal and practical testimony cannot be the whole story. Fortunately, On the Eighth Day gives us some guidelines and guardrails. It defines a theology of sport as “faith seeking understanding, justice, mercy and contemplation in and through sport.” The authors ask: How might play and sport speak to us about God and living the Christian life? Does God care about play? Should people of faith participate in competitive sport? If so, how can their involvement develop a deeper connection to Jesus?
Importantly, the authors describe theology of sport not as a simple transition from theory to practice, but as “a dialogue between sport and faith that is both reflective and critical.”
That dialogue—and the questions it raises in light of both the positives and negatives, consolation and desolation, light and darkness—is the story of this semester.
As a teacher, I make a point of using compare and contrast to help students understand. So I couldn't help but notice another example this past week.
Drew Dougherty at Strake Jesuit in Houston teaches Sport and American Culture. This past week, he welcomed Gary Kubiak, who coached the Denver Broncos to a championship in Super Bowl 50 and also coached the Houston Texans. I wish I could take that class! I would have loved to hear Coach Kubiak speak, and I would love to know what he addressed in light of the course’s themes and essential questions.
I have no doubt there is considerable overlap between our courses. But there is a distinction. Sport and American Culture is not a Religious Studies course. It could certainly ask theological questions, but Sports and Spirituality explicitly asks students to discern the holy and transcendent in everything from a world championship to the daily practice that makes it possible.
Even 16 years later, I think it is a risk for students to take a class like Sports and Spirituality.
They probably love sport. They play it, watch it, celebrate it, argue about it, and sometimes hate it. But asking them to consider how sport connects to their faith—and ultimately to their own lives—is something else entirely. It asks them to risk seeing something familiar in a new way.
And that’s where Justin Buzzard’s motto—risk or rust—becomes more than a clever phrase.
There is a risk in this course: asking questions that don’t have easy answers; bringing something as familiar as sport into a Religious Studies classroom; looking for the holy and transcendent in winning and losing, excellence and failure, competition and community. Most of all, it is the risk of allowing those questions to become personal.
The opening assignment in Sports and Spirituality asks students to name a passage of Scripture, a quote, or a motto that is important to them. What words have shaped them? What do they return to when they need direction, encouragement, perspective, or courage?
Not only did we find an answer to the big questions of the course in Justin Buzzard, we found a motto worth remembering.
We will keep you and your team in our prayers. Thanks for your words and for taking the risk!
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