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FIRST PERSON: Urban Meyer: The case for balance by Brett Maragni Date: Feb 4, 2010 |
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--Urban Meyer walked away from the game…for a few hours. Then he discovered what so many top performers in the sports world who have gone before him knew: it’s not easy to walk away.Most top performers have a hard time walking away from their sport. Michael Jordan tried to do it twice; only the third time did it take. Bjorn Borg shocked the tennis world by doing it so young, but years later failed miserably at a comeback. Even for those in sports where hanging it up early would make a lot of sense, they cannot seem to do it. Muhammad Ali is one of numerous boxers who hung around long after their prime, doing irreparable damage to their brains in the process. Example after example could be found in multiple sports. But the list of those who are able to walk away is more difficult to generate. Running back Barry Sanders, still at top form, was probably a season away from the all-time rushing record when he did it at age 30. Chuck Noll, who led the Steelers to an unmatched four Super Bowl championships, retired at age 59 and is known not to pay much attention to football since. Rocky Marciano, Sandy Koufax and Jim Brown are also on this short list. At Urban Meyer’s retirement press conference in December, he cited his recent chest pains and the desire to spend more time with his family as sufficient reasons to walk away. He even shared his oldest daughter’s reaction of his retirement news: “I’ve got my Daddy back.” If that were not enough to seal the deal, then a word from above should have been sufficient. In considering his middle-of-the-night trip to the hospital for chest pains, Meyer declared, “I saw it as a sign from God that this was the right thing to do.” The next day that sign from God was overcome by a gut feeling as Meyer led his team through a Sunday morning practice. At press conference number two in as many days, Meyer said regarding his chances of being the head coach of the Florida Gators for the 2010 season, “I do in my gut believe that will happen.” So now Meyer finds himself on a leave of absence (in which he is still recruiting), trying to figure out how to still be a head coach and yet not lose sight of his health and his family. Tim Tebow suggests: “He has to delegate more and put more responsibilities on other people. And when he goes home from work, he has to be home and not be at work in his mind.” The aforementioned Noll is a case that Meyer might want to study for himself. According to Elizabeth Merrill’s espn.com feature on Noll preceding last year’s Super Bowl, Noll was unwilling to compromise family life for success. Joe Gordon, Steelers’ public relations director under Noll, said, “He was so different from most head football coaches in that era. He was not a workaholic. He did not put in crazy hours. There was no such thing as sleeping in offices.” He was home at 8:00 on Monday nights, 10:00 on Tuesday nights, and 7 p.m. the rest of the week. But in the time he did spend at work, he was able to bring four championships to the Steel City. Meyer should make a commitment to find a way to balance his life or quit. He has to change his ways. His own father, Bud Meyer, doesn’t think it is possible, saying, “No. Of course he can’t change. … You can’t change your essence.” The elder Meyer is right -- a person cannot change his or her own essence. The Bible says, “Can a leopard change its spots?” (Jer. 13:23) But the elder Meyer is also wrong in saying it is impossible because it is possible for his son to change by the power of God (Matt. 19:26). I pray that Urban Meyer finds that Christ can change his essence. He can remain a successful coach and balance his life as well. I pray that he does and that many other driven athletes and coaches and pastors and businessmen follow his example. --30-- Brett Maragni is senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel of Jacksonville, Fla. His Web site is www.pastorbrett.com.
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