I am writing in response to Tuesday’s letter regarding the Super Bowl. I find it offensive that other people find it offensive that I, like many Latter-day Saints, enjoy the Super Bowl.

I consider the Super Bowl to be a celebration of life and a gathering together of some of God’s finest creations (fine-tuned athletes) for the world to see and marvel at their athletic skills.

Don’t get me wrong. The author of the letter was perfectly correct in stating that by making Sunday a day of football we are “disregarding the counsel of ancient and modern prophets.” Indeed, football must have been a great thorn in the side of the ancient patriarchs. Joshua had the misfortune of trying to preach to the Israelites during one of the early Super Bowls, as recorded in Exodus 32:17, “And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.'” When Joshua and Moses descended to the camp they found that the Israelites had built a huge golden calf as the mascot for their team. As I recall, that year the Levites won 33-28 over the Mulekites.

So yes, from ancient scripture we can see that football is a vile, evil thing when used in excess. Yet when viewed in the proper spirit, football can be wonderful for the soul and many of the ancient prophets were quite good at the sport.

How can anyone forget the instructions for holy handoffs mentioned in Romans 12:8, “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity,” or Paul’s post-game congratulations to the Galatian running backs, “Ye did run well” (Galatians 5:7). These great men were obsessed with the sport that we know as football and I share their passion.

Scott Stevens

Alpine

See related story:

Letter to the editor: Think again about football on Sunday 2/7/2000