Lombardi Trophy: the Holy Grail?
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 12, 2010
The Saints winning the Super Bowl was exciting and good for New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. I enjoyed their run that proved they were the best team in the National Football League. The coaches did an excellent job and the fan support was unbelievable.
The reward for winning was a nice paycheck, a place in history and the Lombardi Trophy, symbol of the best team in the NFL in 2010. All of that was good for the people of Louisiana.
Now, four months later, we have the BP rig explosion in the Gulf that killed 11 men and the oil spill that has threatened the livelihood and way of life for so many families.
Everyone knows that BP gets the blame for the disaster. The media has given us the up- to-date progress of the problems but very little about the solution.
Most of last week, the front page news was about the oil spill, but running a close second in another publication were articles about how people could view the Lombardi Trophy. One article was titled “March In This Week To See The Saints.” It stated that fans would be able to get close to the Super Bowl Championship Trophy but not too close to the 7-pound sterling silver sculpture, which would be locked away in a case and guarded by a security detail. Guarded it was, by two U.S. Marines.
I was thinking of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C., which is guarded around the clock by only one soldier.
Is the trophy just about football? No. It has become an object that some people worship. The Bible speaks very clearly about the sin of idolatry. Sean Payton is reported to have said that he’ll remember how the fans embraced the trophy because of what it represented. He said, “To some, it became a sort of Holy Grail. It took a personality of its own.”
I think it’s time people accept the fact that it only represents the accomplishments of a football team and nothing else.
If you have any questions or comments, please write to Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084, call (985) 652-8477, or e-mail: hkeller@comcast.net.