When I was a boy, names like Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and Dan Marino were hard to avoid. Kids like me pretended to be guys like them at recess. They could run & catch & throw a football like no one else on the planet, which made 1987 a memorable year in my childhood, not to mention the entire world of sports. These illustrious men, along with many of their athletically gifted contemporaries suddenly refused to play the game they were all so tailor made & handsomely paid to play. After appearing for the first two games of the season, 85% of the athletes in the National Football League went on strike, refusing to compete any longer. To their surprise, they were met with rigidly strong opposition from team ownership that would rival the most rugged linebackers in the league. One online article states, \u201cThe players had no idea just how determined the owners were to break their solidarity\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 10, the Chicago Tribune reported that the team owners voted unanimously to push through a player strike by signing \u201canyone willing to wear a uniform\u201d. In response to the strike, they hired a ragtag group of bartenders, firefighters, and insurance salesmen to take the field in place of those who refused to do their job. The Washington Redskins hired a quarterback on work-furlough from prison. The defending champion N.Y. Giants found Mike Busch bagging groceries for $4 an hour, and hired him to replace M.V.P. Phil Simms. One way or another, willing men were found, rosters were filled up, and the game went on. Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm supposedly made the remark, \u201cYou guys are cattle and we\u2019re the ranchers,\u201d at a bargaining session that September. \u201cAnd ranchers can always get more cattle\u201d.<\/p>\n
These replacement players were hardly professionals. Sources report that \u201cFour or five of them got together and bought a used car for 500 bucks so they had transportation. The hardest thing they had to do was find a coat and tie to wear on an away game\u201d. Another article describes how, while playing in New York, \u201cCowboys\u2019 receiver Cornell Burbage reached into the stands during the game, grabbed a package and placed it under the bench. It was a box of laundry Burbage’s sister had washed for him. He couldn’t afford to have his clothes cleaned at the hotel\u201d. Mocked & scorned by the superstars they replaced and by the country that watched them, these men would quickly come to be labelled and forever remembered as \u201cscabs\u201d. Television ratings dropped, and for good reason. Instead of watching All-Pro wide receiver Jerry Rice, we had to watch a guy named Carl Monroe. Instead of Dan Marino, it was a water aerobics teacher from Texas named Kyle Mackey. I don\u2019t remember any of my friends ever pretending to be Kyle Mackey at recess.<\/p>\n
What turned out to be a momentous disappointment to thousands of NFL fans from coast to coast proved to be the thrill of a lifetime for the scabs. If only for a moment, nameless truck-drivers & bouncers were able to touch the NFL dream. And these men weren\u2019t just \u201clucky\u201d either. This was much more than some \u201cgood fortune\u201d. These men, as unprepared & amateur as they were, had been sought out\u2026chosen for one reason or another, to play on the same field, under the same lights, wearing the same colors, as the league\u2019s biggest names. They didn\u2019t win a lottery; they were offered a position. And they took it. And the only reason these guys ever got the opportunity to run with the ball is because someone else refused to stay on the field. These men played with the understanding that none of them deserved to be there, and that every game could be their last. The strike could end at any time, and if they were going to score any points or make any tackles, they needed to do it while they still had the chance to get it done.<\/p>\n
In the end, the NFL strike of 1987 only lasted for a few weeks. The stand-off came to a close, the professionals returned to the field, and nearly all of the replacements were cut from their respective teams and sent back home. Three short games didn\u2019t leave them with much time to make their mark in the NFL history books, but they did it. Maybe not individually, like the Dan Marino\u2019s and the Walter Payton\u2019s do, but collectively, as a team. They were \u201cThe Scabs\u201d. And they haven\u2019t been forgotten.<\/p>\n
Jesus says that we are the \u201cpoor & the maimed, the lame & the blind\u201d (Lk.14:21<\/a>). God says He\u2019s chosen the \u201cfoolish, weak, & despised\u201d (I Cor.1:27-28<\/a>). You & I were found in the streets & lanes of the city and given a last-minute offer to attend The Great Supper. We\u2019re nothing more than a ragtag collection of factory workers, teachers, & retailers that were found in apartments, dorms, bars, & parking lots. We\u2019ve been drafted into the biggest contest this world has ever known. And the only reason we were brought in from the \u201chighways & the hedges\u201d to play this game at all is because the first-round draft picks declined their invitation. It\u2019s very likely that somebody else was supposed to be doing for Christ what you\u2019ve been given the opportunity to do, but they just didn\u2019t want to do it anymore.<\/p>\n I wonder how many of us hold positions in the church that were once filled by somebody else who vacated that position abruptly, out of self-centeredness or spite? Blinded by pride & distracted by worldly enticements, they forgot what a privilege it was to do what they do, and they walked off the field. But the Kingdom of God, much like the National Football League, won\u2019t be cancelled just because someone isn\u2019t willing to participate. The team roster is going to be filled no matter what. That’s why you were sought out. There was a vacancy, and you got the call; you’ve been made a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Now are you willing to wear the uniform or not?<\/p>\n It was reported that, \u201cMost of the NFL\u2019s scab rosters (in 1987) were stocked with ordinary dudes from all walks of life who were delighted to jump at the opportunity to play NFL football, even if only nominally and even if just for a fleeting moment\u201d. That should be how we feel as Christians! We\u2019ve been drafted into the service of Christ the King, contending for the glory of our Team Owner! We compete for an eternal prize, not one that fades away like the Vince Lombardi Trophy. We\u2019re on the same field as Paul & Peter, and that should mean something to us! We\u2019re playing under the same lights as Daniel & David, and no one should have to tell you what an honor that is! You\u2019re wearing the same team colors as Jonathan & Joshua & Jacob, and if you aren\u2019t jumping at the opportunity to serve the Lord, \u201ceven if only nominally, and even if just for a fleeting moment\u201d, then you\u2019re playing this game for wrong reasons. If you find yourself beginning to feel entitled, and you start entertaining thoughts of going on strike, please remember, it\u2019s not beyond the Team Owner to find someone else with more passion than you have, and let them play in your stead. He\u2019s done it before\u2026<\/p>\n Ranchers can always get more cattle you know.<\/p>\n The Washington Redskins were the team that would go on to win Super Bowl XXII that season, thanks in part to their replacement players (or \u201cScab-skins\u201d as they were called). They pointed their team toward a championship year by winning all three games they were allowed to play. They weren\u2019t professional by any means, but they took their call seriously and got the job done. In March of this year (2018; thirty years after their Super Bowl victory), Redskins team president Bruce Allen announced that the replacement players, the scabs, would all receive Super Bowl rings of their own for the small, but very significant role they played, in their team\u2019s historic victory. Nobody would ever have thought it possible, but those \u201cordinary dudes from all walks of life\u201d have now become official Super Bowl champions. And this, of course, would include Tony Robinson…<\/p>\n …the quarterback that was hired on work-furlough from prison.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019re anything like me, you sometimes feel a bit vulnerable out here on the mission field; under-qualified & unprepared. Nobody needs to remind me that I\u2019m not a professional. No one needs to tell me that someone else could do it better than I am. I\u2019m just a scab. We all made it here on a fluke. But so what? Isn\u2019t it thrilling? Let\u2019s enjoy it while it lasts…even if just for a fleeting moment! Never again will you get an opportunity like this. Never. This is our shot. Let\u2019s endure the mockery and play hard…as hard as we can. Don\u2019t stop until this game is over.<\/p>\n We might not be much fun to watch, but we\u2019re doing what we love; and we might not be too good at what we do, but at least we\u2019re on the field. Nobody will ever know your name, but the world will always remember who we are.<\/p>\n We\u2019re the Replacements. We are the Scabs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was a boy, names like Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and Dan Marino were hard to avoid. Kids like me pretended to be guys like them at recess. They could run & catch & throw a football like no one else on the planet, which made 1987 a memorable year in my childhood, not … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}FINISH THE GAME\u2026<\/h2>\n