The Unseen Here and
Now . . .
Stuart
Revercomb
Stuart
Revercomb is a marketing consultant and joyously married father of four
children. He seems to remember someone once telling him he ought to be
a writer. "The Unseen Here and Now" -- Thursdays.
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"Thursday's Fare"
Jerry Rice Figures It Out
I have never been a Jerry Rice fan.
Probably because he's just too darn good.
For those of you who haven't seen a pro football game in 20 years and don't plan on it for another 20, let me explain that Jerry Rice is simply the best wide receiver to ever play the game.
Rice holds the following records:
Career touchdowns, career receiving touchdowns, career receptions, career receiving yards gained, season receiving yards, season receiving touchdowns, seasons with 50-plus receptions, seasons with 100-plus receptions, game receiving touchdowns, games with 100-plus receiving yards, consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, consecutive games with a reception, consecutive games with a touchdown reception, consecutive post season games with a reception, 49ers most career points, most Monday Night Football touchdowns, Pro Bowl consecutive visits, Pro Bowl total visits, Pro Bowl 1995-1996 MVP, Super Bowl points in a game, Super Bowl touchdowns in a game, Super Bowl reception touchdown's in a game, Super Bowl receptions in a game, Super Bowl receiving yards in a game, Super Bowl fastest touchdown, Super Bowl career touchdown's, Super Bowl career receptions touchdown's, Super Bowl career points, Super Bowl career receiving yardage, Super Bowl career combined net yardage ... etc., etc., etc.
If I were to list the things in which he is listed as No. 2, you'd be scrolling until next Tuesday, but you get the picture. The guy is All World, All Galaxy, All Universe and beyond. But I still don't like him. It's hard to like a guy that good. Even if he did come from some no-name college, and is known to have outworked every other player in the league to get where he is today.
My apologies to all you Mississippi Valley State grads out there. Truthfully, I figure the odds of an honest to goodness MVS grad reading this column are about as good as me getting back up on the gutters to take the Christmas lights down this week. But if you are, let me know and I'll eat my hat in an online cyber room. And I'll do it while singing the praises of old Mr. Rice.
Recently in an interview Rice was asked to remember his favorite moment in football, the highlight of his extraordinarily brilliant career. Was it one of the playoff touchdowns that took them to their first Super Bowl? Was it a game winning Super Bowl touchdown itself? Or perhaps it was one of his other 1,214 gravity defying catches that seem to be part of every NFL highlight film ever made?
Nope, none of the above.
When asked Rice responded that while he couldn't remember the exact game or even the year it took place, his favorite moment of his extraordinary career was throwing a block that sprung Quarterback Steve Young for a touchdown.
What?? The most prolific receiver to ever play the game remembers a block for another player above all else?
It says something about Rice, to be sure, but perhaps it says something about the rest of us as well. In considering the noted and not so noted careers of both family and friends, especially those who have already retired, it occurs to me that often what we do the least is what we value the most.
Serving others in some special way seems to be what all of us, sooner or later, refer to as being "what life is all about," and what we should "be all about" as well:
The heart surgeon who through years of training and the skill of his hands has saved thousands of lives, remembers more fondly the moments when he was able to successfully offer comfort to the grieving family of the patient who didn't pull through.
The judge who's rulings have changed the lives of countless individuals remembers most dearly the moment his family sacrificed their own Christmas to come to the aid of another family whose father the judge himself had just been forced to place behind bars.
The grocery store manager who sacrifices his own time with family by staying late through the holidays preparing special orders so that others can enjoy their own holiday traditions. He might not yet confess it, but there will come a day when these will be some of his "favorite" memories.
Why is that? Why do we most remember "blocking for the other guy" among all the events of our own "stellar careers" -- whatever it is that we do?
It is because when all is said and done, the Savior whose birth we celebrated last week had it right. We truly are "built to serve." We just have a hard time remembering it. Or as my 3-year-old would say, "I have a hard time knowing that, Dad ..."
I have a hard time "knowing it" too, but every now and then, by grace, I seem to catch at least a glimpse of what I think both Jerry and Jesus are talking about.
May 2001 bring you plenty of catches and touchdowns, and the "blocks" that last a lifetime.