Special Teams

Note: The following has been taken from the September 2010 Boulevard Good News, our monthly newsletter.

Special Teams in football is dirty work. Thankless except for the kicker and the guy who catches the kicks, players on Special Teams got virtually no credit for when it went right and all the blame when something goes horribly wrong. I remember one game in particular when we had given up one touchdown and one near touchdown to what could best be called a mediocre team. Guys were not tackling, which happens to be the sole job of kickoff special teams, and so when the kickoff team took the field after an interception turned touchdown, the Special Teams Coach raced up and down the sidelines shouting “If not you, who? If not now, when?” Flapping his arms, shouting at his players, the coach continued up until the point the opposing team fumbled the ball, picked it up again, and went 80 something yards for yet another score.

I took the field as the kickoff return squad came off the field, and was not present for what had to have been an intense sideline intervention. Perhaps unluckily, my offensive unit made short work, scored quickly, and upon kicking the extra point, the previously inept kickoff crew took the field. Much to everyone’s shock a tackle was made minus any fanfare or celebrations. The 2nd sting Linebacker who made the stop trotted off the field, took off his helmet, and awaited what happened next. Being a friend of mine, I asked him the day after what transpired on the sidelines, and he said the Special Teams Coach went to every member of the squad and asked “If you don’t tackle this guy, who will?” My friend later remarked, “he made it personal.”

Boulevard has not fumbled the ball nor have we given up any touchdowns. We have not shirked our responsibility nor have we thought following the Call of the Spirit was “someone else’s job.” Boulevard has been faithful and true to the Call that runs throughout this congregation, and it is not because we have not, but precisely because we have listened for God’ Call that we are embarking on a new era of being the church; an era of imagination and possibility.

Starting now, and continuing into the Fall, meetings are happening and plans are in the works to provide opportunities for everyone to get involved on personal level and take ownership of how you engage your faith. We will see more and imaginative missions and community outreach, we will see the formation of small groups around topics, service, and much more, and we will see the dreams many of you shared with our Appreciative Inquiry group, the aptly named Dream Team, work to come alive and viable. But none of this happens automatically just because we want it.

“He made it personal”, replied my friend. Like the responsibilities of a special teamer to tackle the runner, we here at Boulevard must also take the work of the Church personally too. We must
reorient our passions, our energy, and even our time to help make the things we dream about like mission trips for the youth, outreach to the community, and fighting hunger and poverty personal and by doing, make these things possible. I hope you will join us!