We were doing the Oklahoma drill in practice. I stepped up to be the ball carrier and my little brother was next in line to be the tackler. The coach made a big deal out of it, being it was going to be brother on brother.
Coach then threw me the ball and I started forward as my little brother moved into the tackle zone. I hit my brother as hard as I could with my left shoulder pad and he landed on his back as I ran over the top of him. As I turned to throw the ball to the coach, the coach said, “That wasn’t very nice.” I said back to the coach, “I am never going to be tackled by him!”
1 Samuel 17:28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
Can you hear that condescending voice of Eliab? It is the same condescension in my voice about my little brother.
1 Samuel 17:43-44 The Philistine (Goliath) ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make road kill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.”
That same condescension I had in my voice for my little brother and Eliab and Goliath had in their comments for David is the same condescension some football teams have for certain teams on their schedule this fall.
Be careful what you think about your opponents this fall. My advice is to take them all as serious competitors no matter what they have done in the past.