Going Further
Giving It Our Best
Facing the Giants is an outstanding Christian football movie that illuminates the importance of going further than one thinks one can.
The main character is the head coach, Coach Grant. He has had multiple losing seasons. Through prayer, Coach Grant decides to change his coaching philosophy. His philosophy is to praise God and encourage the players to go further under God's guidance.
The Death Crawl scene is one of the most powerful in the movie. Brock, the best player and defensive captain, doubts that the team can win in the upcoming game. Coach Grant calls Brock out to the goal line in front of all his teammates and challenges Brock to do a death crawl to the 50-yard line. The death crawl is when a player bear crawls with a teammate on his back.
Coach Grant asks Brock only one thing: that he give it his best. However, Coach Grant adds a twist and blindfolds Brock, telling him this is because he “doesn’t want him to give up when he can go further.” Brock begins carrying his teammate across the field one step at a time.
Coach Grant yells encouragement into Brock’s ear as he gets tired. Suddenly, the team realizes that Brock has crossed the 50-yard line, but he keeps going further. Coach Grant continues pushing Brock to go further as he becomes more exhausted.
In the final moments of the death crawl, Coach Grant tells Brock he has only five more steps. Brock screams, “I can’t do it!” Coach Grant slams the grass with his hand and yells, “Yes, you can! Don’t quit!” Then Brock collapses and, exhaustedly, says, “It’s got to be 50 yards. I don’t have any more!” Coach Grant removes Brock’s blindfold and says, “Look up, Brock. You’re in the endzone.”
Pope Francis has shared that the light God gives us is like a lantern. The lantern only shows us what is directly in front of us. Pope Francis has shared that we would get intimidated if we were to see far ahead.
Pope Francis has also shared that the light of a lantern has other benefits than the light of the sun. The sun's light is unable to shine into the darkest places underneath. However, a person carrying a lantern can go to those darkest places and bring the light of Christ.
Coach Grant essentially held a lantern in front of Brock. Although Brock was blindfolded, his interior vision was focused on just a few more yards. Coach Grant knew he would have been intimidated if Brock had looked across the 100-yard football field. Brock’s incredible effort, like a lantern, brought the light of hope into the darkness of the team’s doubts.
God coaches us similarly to how Coach Grant coached Brock. God gives us a lantern because it is the best way to grow in faith and to take Christ's light to the darkest areas.
Fr. Luke Daghir
