Wray Morrison: No ‘I’ in team

As I read up and prepared for Super Bowl LIV, I was reminded of a conversation I once had with former Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Ken Miller.

He described football as “the ultimate team game.” The phrase was likely coined long before Ken and I had that conversation, but that was the first time I had heard it.

In the lead-up to Sunday’s game, there were two things that reaffirm Miller’s point. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, an offensive lineman in college, said his offensive lineman “don’t get a lot of pats on the back, and don’t care if they get them.” They, like many other offensive linemen in history, have been underappreciated this season.

Then there is Katie Sowers, a San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant who will be the first female to coach in a Super Bowl game. When asked about that, she said, “I’m not the only special story out there.” She said she wanted the narrative to be about the team. That was very selfless.

Football — the ultimate team game indeed.