I am not a football fan and I truly dislike the NFL, it’s sex-driven advertising and superfluous cheerleaders, but I watched today’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos with interest. They are both good teams. The Broncos were the clear favorite–playing at their home stadium at their native altitude in bone-chilling snow flurries.

It was a good game. By the middle of the first overtime I was convinced that both teams could walk away with a sense of victory. They played well.

As a mother I watch these highly trained, gifted athletes pound each other and I worry about the damage they are doing, especially to their heads. I worry also about their hearts. It can be tough on one’s soul to be rich and famous. When you watch a game like the one played tonight in Denver you must respect the power and skill of the men on the field. But I want more than that. I would trade NFL gladiator football for a professional flag league, if I knew that what each man did off the field was as brave and as sold-out as what they do on the field.

Lately with scandals ranging from Notre Dame to Penn State and individual players facing charges of recklessness, violence or worse, we all need to examine our allegiances. We cheer for teams, we will them to win, and sometimes we look the other way when they use their fame and talent as an excuse for terrible things.

The NFL is quick to admonish that the use of their game footage is for the private use of their viewers, however this is a public, national past time. We need to applaud the skill and talent of brave men, and make no excuses for our athletes when they fail at things much more important than carrying a ball across a very long field.