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Super Bowl moment relative to Airmen today
Posted 2/8/2012
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Commentary by Maj. T. Allen Herritage
2nd Combat Camera Squadron
2/8/2012 - HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- At the risk of committing the journalistic sin of cliché in my commentary, I'll use the recentness of the Super Bowl to justify my use of a sports analogy to illustrate my point. Every year when I watch the big game, I remember my favorite play of all time and hope for a similar moment that would so greatly influence me that I would remember it decades later. It didn't come during New York's defeat of New England, but the game did give me cause to reflect on what I consider one of the greatest moments in Super Bowl history.
Some sports fans might raise an eyebrow if I told them this play was made by a member of the Buffalo Bills against the Dallas Cowboys during Super Bowl XXVII. The main reason for the raised eyebrow would be the score. Dallas crushed Buffalo 52-17. Still, it was the spirit of one player during that thumping that I try to emulate every day.
By the time the fourth quarter came around, it was clear Dallas was going to be the victor. If the scoreboard didn't communicate the inevitable, the players' demeanor surely did. The Cowboys players were smiling, giddy at their ability to continue to put points on the board while denying the same to Buffalo. The Bills players' heads hung low. They walked back to the bench instead of running. They were beaten and they knew it. But the score didn't matter to one player.
Don Beebe, a wide receiver for Buffalo known for his speed, was moving down the field when back at the line of scrimmage, Buffalo fumbled the ball. Dallas Defensive tackle Leon Lett then picked it up and started a 64-yard run that looked to have only one possible result: a touchdown. Meanwhile, Beebe, already at the opposite end of the field waiting on a pass that would never come, turned around and bolted towards Lett. He was so far away from the fumble, he wasn't even in camera coverage--until the very end.
As Lett crossed the ten-yard line and closed in on what would have been a Super Bowl record of 58 points, he decided to celebrate. Instead of keeping the ball tucked in tightly, he extended his arm and held the ball out for everyone to see as he cruised toward the end zone. Now, remember I said Don Beebe was fast, well, Leon Lett didn't know how fast. Within a few steps of the end zone, Beebe came out of nowhere and slapped the ball out of his hand denying the touchdown and embarrassing the Cowboys.
What makes Beebe's effort so amazing to me is that no one would have noticed and few would have cared if he didn't make the play. After all, he was at the other end of the field, the game was unwinnable and Dallas had already scored 52 points...what would another six really mean? Beebe couldn't just let it go though. The problem was, HE would have noticed. HE would have known if he didn't give his all, if he didn't at least try. Don Beebe was a professional in the truest sense of the word.
What makes this relevant to Airmen is that we call ourselves professionals. Whether we're a pilot or a communicator or a medical technician, we like to think of ourselves as professionals. And we should--we're in the greatest Air Force the world has ever known. Doesn't the mere fact that we've "made the team" confer on us the title of professional? No, not really.
Leon Lett, was a professional by similar standards. He was a superb player on a championship team. But during the most important game of the season, and perhaps his career, he quit giving it his all. Don Beebe, on the other hand, tried his absolute hardest until the very end even though he knew his team wouldn't win.
Today we're in what could be considered the fourth quarter of Operation Enduring Freedom, a conflict that will define many of our military careers. Much of the public thinks the war is already over. We've been at it so long many have forgotten why we went to war in the first place. But, as Airmen, we do know. And if we don't give it our best to the very end, we'll know that too. We must remind ourselves that win or lose, we are professionals.
(Maj. Herritage is the commander of the 2nd Combat Camera Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah)
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