Give First, Ask Last – The Play That Wins Every Time

One of the greatest privileges I have as a coach is being part of the Senior All-Star Game. We bring together the very best six-man seniors from private schools across Texas for one last week of practice and one final showdown. When you put this much talent on the same field, every coach’s scheme suddenly looks brilliant—the kids are so good they make us all look like geniuses.

But the real privilege isn’t the X’s and O’s. It’s the chance to pour into these young men one last time, using the game we love to remind them of the principles that carried them here.I always ask the same question:

“How many of you have ever seen a selfish team win it all?”

Exactly zero.

Championships aren’t built by guys chasing stats. They’re built by the lineman throwing an uncredited block into a 250-pound monster, the receiver who keeps running his route when the ball’s going the other way, the scout-team warrior who lights up the ones all week just to make them better.

You’ve already lived the truth that giving first is the only way anything great ever happens. It’s already rewarded you with rings, lifelong brothers, and respect that no highlight reel can capture.

God wired the universe the same way.

Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you… pressed down, shaken together, running over.”

Acts 20:35 – “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 – “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

This isn’t a one-week motivational trick. It’s a lifetime playbook.

Jobs, marriage, fatherhood, hard seasons ahead—keep giving first. The return always comes, usually bigger and from places you never expected.

So this week, in every rep, every film session, every snap Saturday —pour it out. No scoreboard for effort, no repayment plan. Just give.

When the final whistle blows and the helmets come off for good, you’ll walk away richer than any scholarship could ever make you.