My Auburn Football Prayer

For those of you that know me, you know that, I don't bleed Crimson Red like most humans. For those of you that don't, there is a special breed of humans, like myself, that instead bleed Burnt Orange and Navy Blue, the beautiful team colors of Auburn University, the school that my grandfather, my father, and myself are (were) proud to call our Alma Mater. Being a Southerner, College Football is a way of life, almost as if it were a religion. Especially in the SEC, religion and football cross paths regularly, so I wrote the following prayer this morning, with the Eve of Auburn Football drawing closer each hour, and I felt I needed to share it with all of you. 

I would like to Thank God for understanding my sense of humor. On that note, this prayer is serious as the night is dark...

Dear Lord, it's been a tough offseason for those of us who love Auburn Football. After the most miserable season that the Auburn framily has ever witnessed in the long history of Auburn Football, we lost our Coach, and our beloved Toomer's Oaks, and needless to say, all we want is to move on and recover the glory that we were once all so familiar with in previous seasons, such as Eleven and Oh, Thirteen and Oh, Six and a Row, and of course, the Superstars that forged our wonderful school to victory and claimed the National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona on January Tenth, during your year of our Lord, Two Thousand Eleven. 

So Lord, I ask you to give my Auburn family strength this season, as we watch our boys slam into the members of opposing teams at blistering speeds, while they are being screamed at by 87,451 people, most of which will be proudly wearing the burnt orange color that we normally wouldn't wear if it weren't for the loyalty to our Alma Mater.

Lord, Thank you for bringing back The Gus Bus. Thank you for the new plans to reconstruct our legendary Toomer's Corner. Thank you for Toomer's Lemonade. Thank you for the best and most decorated mascot in the NCAA, Aubie The Tiger. Thank you for the Tiger Walk, and Pat, and Bo, and Cam. Thank you for the Loveliest Village on the Plains and for the flight of War Eagle over the Loveliest Village on the Plains. And most importantly, Thank You for the Auburn Family. 

Lord, Thank You for ESPN, and all of the hostile College Sports writers that keep Auburn coaches, players and fans on their toes by always unnecessarily looking for dirt to bring us down. We always overcome the scrutiny, but, Lord, please be with them, and the staff of the NCAA this season, and guide them in another direction, far far away from Auburn, though I do completely understand that the NCAA staff has an obsession with Momma's Love, just as much as everyone else who has ever walked through the doors at Momma G's on the corner or Donahue Drive and Magnolia Avenue. 

Lord, I want to believe that the burnt orange and navy blue that I wear, and the exact position and seat that I sit in during the games will make a difference in the outcome, despite contradictory evidence from last season. While I realize you have many, many more prayers and souls to tend to, possibly much more important than mine, I promise I will only ask once or twice this season that you intervene in the proceedings on Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Kyle Field, Razorback Stadium, and Neyland Stadium, and if at all possible, the The Georgia Dome, and then The Rose Bowl. But only during the fourth quarter. 

Best Friends + Auburn Family, vs UGA  November 2008

Lord, I truly believe you gave us College Football because you love us and you want us to be happy. I believe you gave us Auburn football so that alumni and friends could unite together, win or lose, as the Auburn Family. I believe you gave us a Sound Mind and a Sound Body, and a Spirit that is Not Afraid, and the ability to Believe in Auburn and Love it as much, or more than I love myself. 

Lord this offseason has been an eternity, especially since Auburn did not play in a post-season game for the first time in my lifetime, other than the years we were deemed ineligible by the powers that be. Despite these things, and with the power of your will, my faith still remains unwavering. 

Lord, Please keep our players healthy, our coaches wise, and our fans humble. Please make them kick off the game already. 

In your name we pray, War Eagle and Amen.

Thanks for stoppin' by, y'all.