Anytime You Can Compare Football In Early December To The Pearl Harbor Attacks, You Gotta Do It

Is getting shut out bad? Yes. I’d imagine getting shutout and dominated in every aspect of the game is difficult. Is it Pearl Harbor difficult? Well, that’s not for me to decide but I would say absolutely not if I was directly asked.

That being said, this quote solidifies Anthony Lynn as a football guy. Only coaches get away with these types of comparisons and that’s for good reason. They have to make these comparisons. Like it or not, wild illustrations, similes, and metaphors are equally as important to the NFL coach as knowing not to play cover 0 with a spy on the quarterback during a clear and obvious Hail Mary attempt to close out your first win of the season.

If you’re a head coach who doesn’t conjure acts of war or atrocities, you won’t be a head coach long. Some coaches rely on Remember the Titans. Some coaches will replay the time the hulkster ignited the Hulkamaniacs by heroically lifting Andre the Tall Guy (some say giant is offensive so I wanna tread lightly) and then slamming him to the ground after he was barely above the knee. Either of those is fine by me. But, does it go far enough in driving the point home like it’s your high school prom date at 11:45pm? 

In the NFL, you gotta motivate your players. That’s just a fact. If comparing your team’s current state to the triggering event of America’s involvement in WW2 is the source of your motivational spring water, buddy, grab a bucket because the motivational well is about to become the motivational geyser.