The Ball was Great; Finding Meaning in Pac-12’s Final Season

Six years ago, I had a conversation with legendary coach Mack Brown. With utter simplicity he stated, “College football is about two things: the players and the fans.”

This past week, as the maize and blue confetti draped the floor of NRG Stadium in Houston, I couldn’t help but look around and agree. Amid the flurry of changes, chaos and unprecedented movement that would challenge that very statement, the game still proved to be about those two things.

After Michigan was crowned National Champions, I stood at the 50-yard line, knowing that when the lights shut off and the celebration ended, college football as we knew it would also end. I stood there, competing with myself to take it all in. As I looked to the Michigan fans singing “The Victors,” numerous Wolverine players being interviewed, glowing UM parents taking pictures and Washington players staring at it all with tears in their eyes, time seemed to stand still.

If this was a movie, it would rewind and flashback to August 4, 2023, when time for the collective college football world also froze. That was the day when the PAC-12 Conference’s 108-year-old history would change forever.

That morning I recall walking back to my home office, sitting at my desk and like those Husky players, just staring. After a few moments, a football caught my eye. Ever since I was a child a football has been positioned on my desk, sitting close enough to grab it to throw to someone, or up in the air to myself. I’ve always known in my heart that without that ball, without the game it inspires, there are no articles to write, no podcasts to host, no playoffs to debate, and no games to broadcast.

Without the ball none of this exists.

For what seemed like hours, I stared at that ball and talked to myself. “How did this happen?” “Why is this happening?” “What’s…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ball-great-finding-meaning-pac-204051050.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-01-11 20:40:51

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