Prayer is not the only point of difference for gridiron, the American code of football, but it is an intriguing one for Aussies.
After their opening game for the season in Melbourne, some of the players for the winning San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams knelt in a circle of prayer in the middle of the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of 100,000.
For a brief moment, the MCG really was “a cathedral of sport”.
Before the game, too, some of the players sought strength and inspiration by attending pre-match Masses. Players and staff from the San Francisco 49ers attended a Mass celebrated by Melbourne Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli.
And eight players and coaches of the LA Rams attended Mass in a conference room of the Ritz Carlton hotel in the Melbourne CBD on the Thursday evening before Friday’s match.
Celebrating was Fr Peter Fitzsimons, a priest at St Mary’s Star of the Sea in West Melbourne. He follows cricket, NRL and AFL, but gridiron was a novelty for him.
He was surprised to have been contacted by a priest in Virginia who coordinates international masses for the US gridiron competition. But it wasn’t exceptional. In fact, most NFL teams have both Catholic and Protestant chaplains.
The mass was coordinated by Giff Smith, “the run game coordinator and defensive line coach” for the Rams.
The team and its entourage had just flown in from Los Angeles that morning and some of the team looked a bit sleepy after their 17-hour flight, said Fr Fitzsimons – which might have accounted for their crushing 27-7 loss the next day.
Fr Fitzsimons was a bit surprised by the encouragement both teams gave to their players to attend Mass. But he thought it was a good idea, although the US is a more overtly religious society than Australia.
“The teams probably feel that that it’s good if they can support the athletes. They’re less likely to go and do stupid things with their money,” he said.
“Look at the Sydney Swans; it’s smashed their name, and everyone’s getting stuck into them.”
“They realise that having the faith and keeping them from getting lost is actually pretty good for the players and probably pretty good for the club as well.”
