Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. (Luke 10:20 NAS)
There is an old saying in athletics that goes something like this: "Records are made to be broken." Breaking records are part of the mystique of sports. When a player is described as a "record-breaker," he or she is considered a notch above the best, a very special person. Sometimes, however, it is the non-record-breaker that is the most special person of all. Let me explain what I mean by telling you about Nate and the record he would not accept.
Nate's coach, Neal Taylor of Southeast High, made a deal with Antwyne Golliday, coach of Cahokia High. Coach Taylor's football team would let Coach Golliday's team score an uncontested touchdown near the end of the game. In return, Cahokia High would allow Southeast to score an uncontested touchdown on a 37-yard pass by Nate Haasis. Those 37 yards would give Nate 5,006 yards for his high school football career, breaking the conference record. Nate would end up in the conference records as the leading passer. It was a nice honor for a kid who had given his best efforts to help his team succeed.
Coach Taylor's plan was a well-intentioned effort to bring honor to his star quarterback. However, three weeks after the incident, Nate petitioned the conference to disallow the 37-yard pass because of the circumstances and to remove him from the record books. He felt the record was tainted because those last 37 yards were not earned on the field of play. Coach Taylor has since resigned as a coach after a firestorm swirled around the whole set of events. What Coach Taylor had intended to be a special honor for his quarterback has become an embarrassment to some and an example of true character to others.
College football has entered into the mayhem of December and January where big money, coaching jobs, potential professional careers, and huge egos are all at stake. Lawsuits, congressional panels in Washington, and a host of complaints and charges swirl in the air that surrounds what was once a game for college students. While many of us enjoy the excitement of the games, we are sickened by the "win at all costs" high-stakes and big-money control of what was once a sport for college kids. We find ourselves increasingly frustrated with our own loss of perspective when a win or loss can change our mood for the weekend or cause us to resent fans of another team. Even more sickening is the underlying suspicions that players are cheating by using performance enhancing chemicals, that schools are cheating by "turning a blind eye" toward alumni who wrongly reward players financially, and that obscenely high paid coaches have their careers determined by the whim of big-money donors who control many of the programs.
So into our world walks Nate Haasis. I'm not sure what kind of person Nate is up close, but he come to us through this one event of character and integrity at just the right time. His actions remind us that football is still a game for kids. He reminds us that records should be earned. Most important of all, however, is the reminder that our push for records in any phase of life is a fleeting attempt for passing fame that won't mean much down the road if we fail to become a person of character rather than just another forgotten name in a record book.
My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you. Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:1-6 NRSV)
