You could not go anywhere in Philadelphia on Super Bowl week without seeing green. The entire city was anticipating the national championship game with great enthusiasm. The Philadelphia Eagles have had an amazing year which wasn’t exactly anticipated.
As the country looked on, the Eagles put together an impressive game and won the championship in compelling form. Many doubted what the Eagles could achieve particularly in light of playing an opponent that was looking to repeat a Super Bowl win for the third time. Yet, they dominated the game with an extraordinary total team effort.
The Philadelphia fans burst into celebrating for hours, filling the city with parties that went well into the night. There is a coming parade that will excite and exhilarate thousands of Eagles fans. What a fun experience for a group of loyal and dedicated fans.
What impressed me about this team was their insistence on their common mission to win the big game. They worked relentlessly to improve all season and are an impressive and talented group of athletes. In spite of their talent, rarely did we hear of any single player speaking about their teammates in a negative way.
In fact, in the postgame interviews the team leaders spoke of two things: their faith in God’s enablement and their faith in their teammates. No matter who was interviewed they would not speak about themselves individually, but in each other as a team. They were articulate about how they faced the highs and lows together, taking on an identity that was about the team and caring for one another, and about the drive they shared to win the Super Bowl.
Even some of the Philadelphia fans had some doubts at the beginning of the season. Yet week by week the team improved, learned, worked and found success. There were media stories that were challenging and each game had some moments of stress, but they found a way to win and inevitably achieved their goal.
As we face many of the problems that are challenging in our lives as individuals, as families and as a community, perhaps we can learn from the Eagles example. They have shown us that our mission can be achieved if we come together as a team, develop our strengths, put in the work and support each other in the process. As I have said to my staff, almost any goal is achievable if we do not care who gets the credit – that is truly the nature of a good team. Rather than opposing each other, we desperately need the support of each other. So many good things can happen if we function as a mission-driven and unified team. Maybe this football success can inspire us all to move with faith and determination to achieve our common goals. Yes, it can be done!
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
