Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend . . . so which comes first? Beer, chicken wings, and pigskin, or Mass and rest from servile work?
It’s possible that football is the perfect opportunity for Catholics to bring their families together and even bring Jesus to their friends and extended relatives. Or maybe our culture makes it impossible to carve out football time on Sunday without obsessing over the game, at the expense of what we owe our Creator and our loved ones on the Lord’s Day.
Today’s edition of Both Sides Now—call it Super Both V—explores a touchy subject for Catholics and sports fans, particularly in America. What are we supposed to be doing on Super Bowl Sunday? Does football fit?
YES: Seize the Chance to Share the Faith
By Tom Nash
I get that a good number of football fans stopped watching National Football League (NFL) games eight years ago, after Colin Kapernick and other players began kneeling during the pre-game national anthem. Many think the contests should be devoid of politics. I have argued that patriotism and protest can coexist, especially if both sides lead with charity and humility.
In addition, others have tuned out in recent decades because the NFL—reflective of our cultural erosion—has taken morally problematic public stands, such as encouraging the homosexual lifestyle, for example, through supporting “Pride parades” and “Drag Brunches.” Also, while millions in America—and many others around the world—prepare to watch Super Bowl LX, some might be surprised to learn that some of the highest-rated games were in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the record of 49.2 for Super Bowl XVI.
Still, the NFL is more popular than ever. Evening games dominate weekly primetime TV ratings during the regular season. And the 2015 film Concussion made the bold claim that is not a minority view: the NFL, not the Church, owns Sunday now.
Football Can Be Employed to Promote Faith and Family
One thing’s for sure: football—particularly NFL football—supplanted baseball as America’s pastime several decades ago. In addition, as I’ve written elsewhere, the Catholic Church has long encouraged football to promote faith and family, discipline, and teamwork, including at the grade school, high school, college, and NFL levels. In fact, for many years, NFL teams have employed priest chaplains to offer the sacrifice of the Mass for their players, staff, and families so that they can more easily fulfill their Sunday obligation on the Lord’s Day.
In my youth, I loved how we associated faith, family, and football in our Catholic Youth Association (CYO) games on Sundays in the Detroit Catholic League. At St. Mary of Redford in Detroit, we would first participate in Sunday Mass, sometimes together as a team, and then play one of the teams in our conference around noon with our family and friends watching.
Given football’s popularity and long positive association with Catholicism, there’s no need for Catholic fans to swear off the sport, including watching NFL games on Sunday. Viewing the hometown team can be a worthwhile way for a Catholic family to relax on a Sunday afternoon or evening. In the process, Mom and Dad can model to their children how not to take the games too seriously.
I have lived that lesson personally. I remember when the Dallas Cowboys—the beloved team of my youth while growing up in Detroit—lost Super Bowl V on a late-game field goal to the Baltimore Colts. I was only eight. I burst into tears and ran upstairs alone to the bedroom I shared with two of my brothers. I recognized then that Jim O’Brien, the Colts placekicker who booted the 32-yard game winner, was likely a Catholic, but that provided me little solace. (Over time, I learned to moderate my devotion.)
With Roger Staubach, a great quarterback and devout Catholic who authored the original “Hail Mary” pass, the Cowboys would go on to win two Super Bowls in the 1970s. Staubach also provided a good example in not taking his career too seriously, retiring in March 1980 because further concussions could have seriously jeopardized his health. Thankfully, in more recent decades, the NFL has instituted its concussion protocol.
Sharing the Faith While Enjoying a Football Game
So parents can capitalize on how NFL players are often role models for their children, as Staubach was a Catholic exemplar for me. I will always remember how he declined a Dodge Charger after being named the MVP for Super Bowl VI in 1972, and asked for—and received—a station wagon instead, because it better served the needs of his growing family. Kids can learn how playing sports can be a platform in giving a faithful Christian witness, with parents extolling NFL players who give that witness on and off the field, whether they’re on the local team or not.
In addition, watching games on Sunday—and inviting friends and family over—can provide opportunities to share the Faith in low-key ways for evangelization while enjoying a contest together. Those can include joyfully responding, “praised be his name” if someone misuses our Lord Jesus Christ’s holy name, which can be a not uncommon occurrence, unfortunately, when men and women gather to watch a sports contest. Also, women and men—particularly husbands and fathers—need to ensure that watching NFL games does not become a harmful distraction from spending time with the family and otherwise hallowing the Lord’s Day.
Also, the Church further could hallow the Lord’s Day through setting up a confessional outside of stadiums on Sundays, or inside the local parish center, a nearby tavern, or a Knights of Columbus hall where people gather to watch on the same game days. As the parable of the Good Shepherd illustrates, we should seek out those who’ve gone astray (Luke 15:1-7). Enjoying a football game within a Catholic context could be the first step in reconciling someone back to Christ and his Church, particularly for Catholic men. Offering the sacrament of confession at such events is a great way to provide an intimate encounter with Jesus at the places where people gather. In other words, to advance a theme from the Doobie Brothers’ hit song, it’s another opportunity for “Takin’ Him to Streets” because of the NFL’s great popularity.
In any event, with the proper disposition, watching an NFL game on Sunday need not sully the sanctity of observing the Lord’s Day. The Catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes that playing in or watching sports on Sundays is a tradition worldwide. We just need to order these events to the good, not abandon them to those who won’t have our Christian values foremost in mind:
Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees (2187).
So if you’re not a football fan, enjoy your Lord’s Days without the NFL, including on Super Bowl Sunday. If you’re a fan, and you have developed other Sunday family rituals, good for you. But if you are a fan, I encourage you to take advantage of how popular football is in general in America, and the NFL in particular. Look for opportunities to draw your family and friends together to watch games during the season, recognizing that faith, fellowship, and football can come together in an edifying manner with a little foresight and creativity.
NO: God and Your Family Deserve More
By Jon Sorensen
I started watching NFL football at a young age.
In the San Bernardino mountains where I grew up, there were only three channels that TV sets could pick up unless you were one of the more fortunate folks who could afford cable. Of the three, one channel was from San Diego, and the other two were from Los Angeles. Sunday mornings for ’80s kids were a television dead zone, with the most interesting thing being football games. Of the three teams regularly shown, one was a powder-blue spectacle, one was a goofy ram horn, and then there was the rad silver and black eye patch guy with swords. Whom do you think I was rooting for?
It was two of my best friends who really got me into the game. Bill and his brother Brian were Raiders fans, and I would stay with them often on Saturday nights. Waking up there on Sunday morning meant breakfast and football. My appreciation and love for the game grew over the years, and we would even go to the yearly Raiders/Chargers game at Qualcomm Stadium (RIP) when we could afford the tickets.
Several years ago, I quit football cold turkey. When politics began creeping into the game more frequently than it had in years past, that was my cue to exit.
Up to that point, the game itself had been something of an escape for me. I could watch it and forget about those things for the day. I hear it’s better now, but I don’t care. It’s too late, because I discovered some unexpected benefits from switching the game off, especially on Sundays.
Sunday as the Lord’s Day, Not Just a Day Off
For Catholics, Sunday is qualitatively different from the rest of the week. For starters, Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and not just rest from labor. It is supposed to be ordered toward the worship of God, and then toward the rest and joy that flow from that. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health (2185).
That’s not how it worked with me. I would often attempt to go to the earliest Mass possible or rush out of a later Mass to get home in time for the game. Looking back on that now, it’s almost as if I were saying to God, “Thanks for all you endured on my behalf, but the game starts soon, and I need to get out of here.” I don’t recall that ever being my conscious intent, but sometimes we humans don’t think everything through, and our actions often speak louder than words.
“My Peace I Give You”
Football, chicken wings, and beer. These were my Sunday staples. I slid Mass into the mix after many years away from the Church. That seemed okay for a while, but what I did not notice was the way in which those Sunday games often robbed me of peace and real relaxation.
No matter how great your team is, it will eventually fall on hard times. (Raiders fans know this painfully well.) That is simply the nature of the sport. And regardless of how well your team is doing during the season, it is not uncommon to feel stressful anxiety (a close cousin to clinical anxiety) during a game. Many psychologists refer to this as “vicarious stress” because your brain reacts as if you have skin in the game, even though you don’t control the outcome. This was most certainly true in my case.
When the Catechism speaks of rest, it does not define it as merely not working. Instead, it frames rest as time that allows the joy proper to the Lord’s Day and permits “appropriate relaxation of mind and body.”
I would drink too much beer and yell at my team through the TV set. This is not the peaceful, easy feeling the Church describes.
Focus on the Family
For much of my career at Catholic Answers, I lived about two and a half hours from the office. This meant I was away from home much more than I was there. That left two full days for my wife and daughter. One of those days I sacrificed to the NFL, and my mood on Sundays was often dictated by how well my team played. Two full days could have been dedicated to my family, and I wasted one of them regularly.
These days, I get up and go to Mass with my wife. After that, we spend the entire day together, and it has been a blessing for my marriage. My greatest regret is that I did not see this about myself earlier. My daughter deserved way more of my time and attention than she actually got.
I’m not the kind of guy to point fingers at people and tell them to do things my way. But if anything I have said here resonates with you, then I recommend testing yourself. Next football season, try taking a month off. Don’t look at the highlights. Don’t check your fantasy football status. Rejoice in the Lord, be at peace, and be totally present for your family.
At the very least, you may come away from the experience with a different perspective. Think of it along the lines of your Lenten sacrifice. Giving up that thing you love for a time may allow you to come back to it with a renewed sense of priorities.