All sports teach lessons, but those from football are unique.
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It's not an easy game. Conditioning is intense. The hitting rugged. You must be tough to play football, especially at its highest level in the NFL.
Luther Elliss was the definition of a tough football player for the Detroit Lions. A two-time Pro Bowl selection, he stood strong in the middle of the Lions' defensive line for eight seasons.
Perspective never left Elliss about the essence of football.
"Nothing against other sports," Elliss said. "They're all great, but nothing is quite like football and what it can teach you about hard work, coming together as a team and getting up after you've been knocked down."
Then he smiled.
"And it's fun," Elliss said. "Who doesn't like high school football on a Friday night? It's something that really brings schools and communities together."
And so there was Elliss Monday morning, under the sweltering sun at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian High School, putting the linemen through their paces during a conditioning drill.
After more than four decades, Oakland Christian has added varsity football. There were 21 players at the conditioning session Monday. About 30 are expected to be out for the team in all, which would represent approximately a quarter of Oakland Christian's male students in grades nine through 12. The sport is being funded from private donations separate from the school budget — including a sizeable donation from the Lions. Oakland Christian, which will be in Division 7, opens its season at Morenci against a team which made the Division 7 state playoffs last season.
Elliss is the line coach. Eight of his 11 children attend Oakland Christian. None, however, will be on the football team this season. His oldest boy is in the seventh grade.
"Talking to people at the school, and with a lot of the other parents, we just thought football would be a good fit for the school right now," Elliss said. "The support we've received has been terrific. So here we go."
Elliss played one last year in Denver before retiring following the 2004 season. Although he was raised in Colorado and attended the University of Utah, Elliss and his wife, Rebecca, decided to make Oakland County their permanent home.
"This has been home for us for a long time, and is the best place for us to raise our family," he said. "We love it here. Always have."
This is not the first time in its 41 years of existence Oakland Christian has considered football. Elliss being behind the project has helped make it a reality.
"The timing seemed to be right," longtime Oakland Christian athletic director and basketball coach Ed Mehlberg said. "We had an athletic group of eighth graders last year, and several were interested in football. When we posted an initial sign up sheet to gauge who might be interested in football, it filled up quickly."
Oakland Christian has had top football players attend its elementary and middle schools in the past, only to have them leave in ninth grade because they wanted to play football. The most notable example is Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Grant Mason, who played collegiately at Stanford and Michigan. He transferred to Orchard Lake St. Mary's.
"When we polled our parents about football, it wasn't just five or six interested in it — it was a lot," Oakland Christian superintendent Randy Speck said.
The Lancers will enter this season without one player who participated in high school football before. There will only be a handful of seniors on the team. By far the biggest class will be the freshmen.
"What we hope to do is build the program class by class," head coach Steve Kozak said. "That way you get a little stronger each year."
Elliss didn't want to be head coach.
"I feel strongly you need a head coach from inside the building, a teacher, who is there every day with the players," Elliss said. "Besides, I may know something about defense and line play, but to be honest, I don't know much about offense."
Oakland Christian's location is a key. The school does have a strong athletic tradition and it has been growing.
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