I love John Elway and the Broncos as much as the next Colorado native. So much so that when I moved to Washington, D.C., to begin a career in foreign policy, I could never bring myself to root for the Redskins — the memory of their 1988 Super Bowl trouncing of the Broncos (42-10 for those too young to recall) still stung too much. I cried like the little girl that I was.
Fast forward 20 years. While I trusted that Elway would always make the right end-of-game decisions, his recent campaigning on behalf of John McCain shows a level of poor judgment in life that he rarely displayed on the gridiron.
It also brings to mind some ways that football can provide important lessons for politics — another full-contact sport, especially in this presidential campaign.
One lesson is that age counts, especially when it comes to whom one picks as a second string QB or as a running mate. Elway and McCain both know something about playing past the average age of their sport.
Elway retired at 38 (the average age for an NFL quarterback is 29). If elected, McCain would be the oldest president to assume the office at 72 years of age.
Elway did not have a high school quarterback for his backup; he had the dependable and knowledgeable Gary Kubiak. Although obviously no Coloradan wanted Elway hurt (just as no real American would want anything to happen to any president), Kubiak, currently the Houston Texans’ coach, was a reassuring figure on the sidelines.
Sarah Palin is no Gary Kubiak, and voters of both political stripes know it. According to all major polls, the majority of Americans do not feel confident that Palin could step into the president’s shoes if necessary.
Indeed, her struggle to answer simple questions about the proper role of a vice president is no less than alarming. In an uncertain world, Americans need to be confident that the number two person could take over the team. Joe Biden is Sen. Obama’s personification of Kubiak.
As any coach appreciates, who (and what) you have on your bench matters. Colorado’s National Guard is the state’s ultimate “bench” if anything goes wrong – from a terrorist attack to a wildfire.
For example, in 2006 and 2007, Colorado’s National Guard did not have enough helicopters for rescue efforts during snowstorms. Lt. Darin Overstreet said, “Normally, we would use the bigger Chinook helicopters for this kind of work, but all three of our Chinooks are deployed in Iraq right now.”
Moreover, the Iraq War has cost 58 Coloradans their lives. Meanwhile, the true opponent, Osama bin Laden, remains free to plot against Americans. This is like losing football players to pick-up beach volleyball games in Miami before the Super Bowl.
And as our Hall of Fame quarterback knows, statistics and records matter, both in football and politics. And the Bush administration, with which McCain has voted 92 percent of the time, has racked up some truly sobering records for the state and the country.
President George W. Bush entered Washington with a budget surplus. The reduction of taxes during a time of war, combined with costly government bailouts and programs, have created a record debt of $10.5 trillion, the largest in U.S. history.
Yet McCain would like to keep the Bush tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, despite the huge bills we owe. The share of U.S. debt for every Colorado man, woman, and child is $34,638.
Importantly, belonging to the Broncos, or being an American, should have nothing to do with one’s ancestry.
Yet, one reason that Elway said he was supporting McCain was that the Republican candidate was “totally American,” suggesting by insinuation that Sen. Obama is not. Ebenezer Ekuban, a Broncos defensive end, was born in Ghana.
Does that make him any less of a Bronco? Sen. Obama was born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas, herself a daughter of a World War II veteran. That makes him every bit of the American that John McCain, born in Panama, is.
Indeed, for many who are struggling to make something of themselves growing up, Obama, who came from a single-parent family on food stamps, is the epitome of the American dream. By definition, patriotism and love for our country should bring us together rather than tear us apart.
There’s a final lesson: No matter which team you root for, the game would not be the same without the fans. So whatever your political persuasion, get out and vote on Nov. 4. We are all better for it.
Denver native Tammy S. Schultz is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program and a principal in the Truman National Security Project. She graduated from Regis University in 1995.
