American Essence

From Gridiron to Battlefield: When Football Went to War

Paying respect to these public figures reminds us to remember the millions of other Americans who served their country.
From Gridiron to Battlefield: When Football Went to War
Four of Navy's mud-stained players pose after an Army-Navy football game in Rizal Stadium in Manila, The Philippines, in 1945. Public Domain
Jeff Minick
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Comedian George Carlin once delivered a monologue marking the differences between baseball and football. He concludes with this comparison:

“In football the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use a shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line.

Jeff Minick
Jeff Minick
Author
Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.