The Defensive Line

I've always been more interested in the positions that make up a football team and their role in the game than the actual game itself.  As glamorous as the offensive positions may be...quarterbacks and wide receivers and running backs and tight ends and their yardage and end zone dances...the defensive positions get my vote every time.  Linebackers and cornerbacks and safeties and defensive tackles...these players anticipate and react and do what it takes to hold back the offense.

So as I watched the Super Bowl last night, I wondered how 'being defensive' got such a bad rap. 

You know how these conversations go.  You know the feeling that rises from your belly that results in a protective comment (and often a recognizable tone) and the inevitable question, 'why are you being so defensive?'  There would be no defensive line without an offensive line.

The defense doesn't have the benefit of knowing the plan or the agenda, so the reactions are based on instinct, experience, and a knowledge of the other team and how they approach the game.  The offensive goal is to keep the defense guessing and break through before their plan is exposed.

This isn't to say that every conversation has an agenda or that a defensive stance taken, over things personal or professional, is always an appropriate or instigated response.  But covering an intentionally (or unintentionally) offensive approach by attacking the response it brings about is lacking self awareness.

I paid closer and closer attention to the players as I thought through how I enter a conversation (and, true to form, I have been known to play offense and defense with the best of them); it actually slowed the plays down for me.  I began to see that there was a place for everyone on that field and that their roles change depending on the circumstances.  Ultimately, though, when the play was over, whether a down or an interception or penalty or touchdown, the players (even in their disappointment or anger or joy) had to accept their contribution, adjust, and move on.

This week, I'm slowing down my conversations and paying close attention to the position I play.  And when I feel it rising from my belly or sense it rising in someone else, I am taking responsibility for that position, addressing my contribution, adjusting as necessary, and moving on.