David Shaw Teaching "Cardinal Football"; Demonstrating "Cardinal Virtue"

David Shaw

I don’t know David Shaw, the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal Football Team, nor have I followed his career closely.  But last Saturday, I witnessed his leadership on display, perhaps only a small sampling of his persona. Yet, what I saw, I believe, is worthy of public amplification.

My wife, Shannon, and I spent the weekend in upstate New York attending the Army – Stanford football game in the classic Michie Stadium at West Point.  Prior to the game, we experienced the Corps of Cadets performing the traditional “review on the plain”.  As they passed by in parade garb, rifles and sabers in tote, it was hard not to think about the considerations of these young men and women.  Their minds must have flashed from college thoughts of a weekend only moments away, to adult thoughts and the reality that graduation may relocate them to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or any number of international hot spots.

Cadets Pass in Review

As we walked up the hill to the stadium, we anticipated the drubbing of the much undersized Army, by the 5^th ranked Cardinal.  Within hours, Shaw led his team to an unremarkable victory against the unranked Black Nights… in fact, I can’t remember the last time Army enjoyed a spot in the top 25.  No one expected Army to be competitive.  And despite the 34-20 score, they really weren't.  They give up about 25-30 pounds per player in the positions that require size.  But, this makes sense.  As Stanford’s players are great and “right sized” athletes, chasing their dream to play in the NFL, these cadets from West Point are living their dream, playing a top 5 opponent in Division I football.  Yet just like all of the other cadets, upon graduation, they will exchange their football helmets for Kevlar helmets as they accept a commission in the US Army.  They will not play on Sundays on a simulated battlefield; they will live each day as willing instruments of the nation prepared to meet the enemies of our country on the great and real battlefields of the world.

Here’s what struck me.  As the Cardinal team came on to the field just prior to the game's start, they raced to the end-zone that was in front of the cadet section led by a player carrying a small American flag.  For a moment, as small as the gesture was, I found myself choked up.  In mere moments, these two teams would compete fiercely, yet in this moment, Shaw’s team honored the commitment of these cadet-athletes, their opponents.  Contrary to all pop-culture messaging, in this situation, the better of the two teams rightly honored the lesser.  And, in a sense, Stanford honored Army above themselves.  What a demonstration of respect born out of the virtue of humility, I thought.

Then, after the game was over, Army in step with tradition gathered in front of the cadet section and sang the West Point Alma Mater together.  It was both a somber and motivating affair.  The stadium stood still.  The fate of these players took an almost tangible form.  The end of the song crescendos into these final words,

“Let duty be well performed, honor be e'er un-tarned, country be ever armed, West Point by thee”. 

Players and Corps Gather,
Singing Alma Mater Together

And there, behind Army’s football team, stood Shaw’s Stanford… deliberately organized almost in formation, paying respect to the fight and fate of these future “warriors of liberty”.  

Shaw leads a great team, but moreover, is leading the development of great men: warriors on the fields of friendly strife in effort and skill, but more importantly in character.  Shaw is teaching his players, while demonstrating to a national audience, the Cardinal virtue of Justice and in its extended form, humility.  No, not the "Stanford Cardinal" virtue, but the one articulated by the great thinkers, from Aristotle to Aquinas.  Justice, in its classical form, is not something one “gets for himself”, rather it is insuring that another is given their “due”, sometimes at one’s own expense.  David Shaw’s team, as dominant as they were, elected to diminish themselves, before and after the game, in order to lift up the higher identity of their opponents. 

From what I could see, David Shaw is leading and teaching not just Stanford Cardinal Football well, but he is leading and teaching the great ethic and habit born of great wisdom – the Cardinal Virtues.  His players, our nation and frankly humanity are served well when men and women like Shaw, aim higher, in the midst of athletics, in order to teach the stuff that ultimately guides men and women of true greatness!    

Youth Sports, Parents and Guardrails

Yesterday, I attended my 8 year old son’s soccer game.  During the game, I witnessed something that turned my stomach, yet I guarantee happens hundreds, if not thousands of times every weekend on the sidelines of youth sports. 

One of the boys, who I will call Billy, was assigned his short stint as the goal keeper.  He had probably never played that position before.  But even more so, most kids up through age 10 or 11, are not confident of the quickness of their reactions, so they play “afraid of the ball”.  In addition, they don’t have a good sense of their position relative to the attacker in front of them and the goal behind them.  I really don’t need to describe much else, other than to say that for an 8 year old, this is very, very NORMAL.

During one sequence in the game, the other team found themselves in a chaotic attack.  Our defenders were chasing the ball, getting a foot on it, but then losing contact.  The best player on the opposing team beat the defenders.  Billy, losing all sense of where he was on the field (remember this is NORMAL at this age) made a valiant attempt at charging the attacker.  The player with the ball slipped right, as Billy was almost completely to the left of the goal, and walked the ball into the net.  I hope I said this already, this type of goal keeper play is very, very NORMAL for an 8 year old.  In fact, the fearlessness and exuberance with which Billy pursued the attacker, as well as the skill of the child with the ball were well deserving of encouragement from this crowd of parents.

However, from a truck outside the fence came a disgustingly biting voice accompanied by a tense arm that was pointing aggressively, “Billy, stay in that spot, don’t come out of there!”  If the words don’t sound that bad, just know that every parent on the sideline heard something that sounded more like this, “Billy you are a complete idiot.  You have embarrassed me to the point that I am violently upset and cannot control myself.  You better figure this thing out and figure it out fast, cause I’m mad and you know what I do to when I’m mad…”  And every parent filled in the blank based upon their childhood experiences.  My stomach turned.

From that moment on, Billy remained stuck between the two goal posts, afraid of not just the opposing teams attack, but of the judgment of his dad.  He would look back to that truck multiple times in the course of one “close-in” engagement, his fearlessness and exuberance gone.  Think about that, an 8 year old, worried about the judgment of his father when he should be enthused by the moments of the game.  He should be encouraged to take risks in order to experience new gains.  He should be lifted up by a parental sideline motivated by grace.  And, he should be instructed in a positive manner by his COACH.

It is easy to feel sorry for Billy and to write this off as a parent going a little too far, but I think it is a symptom of something much more insidious and demands the response of good sports parents and coaches.  Parents and coaches must resolve to be good role models from the sidelines during every game and every practice.  They must create a culture that both instructs the other parents (through example), but also makes it extremely uncomfortable for the “Billy’s-dad-types” to act outside the norm.  And, in times like these, they must resolve to address the issue, whenever and however it surfaces.

Billy is in the process of learning how to address adversity and how to react to someone else who does something that upsets him.  Moreover, Billy is in the process of learning how to parent and coach.  In addition, he is determining if he wants to continue with the otherwise healthy and life-skill-building practice of athletics, exercise and competition.

Remember, how your son or daughter plays on the “fields of friendly strife” will be how they will fight the greatest battles of their lives. And at this very young age, the fertile field on which they play must be guarded fiercely by those who know and care about whether or not the Billie’s of the world will be equipped to eventually fight these greatest battles of their lives.