Reading keys

Tom Landry was a super Christian man and a great football coach, particularly with the Dallas Cowboys. However, he was also an innovative defensive coach with the New York Giants opposite Vince Lombardi who coached the offense. Described in the section “The Defense Answers” (scroll down), Landry invented the art of “reading keys”:

1. "But Landry’s approach to defense went far beyond simply making a rather small change personnel to create a new alignment. He pioneered in having defenders read keys. In the first fifteen years or so of the modern T formation, linebackers and defensive backs generally watched the quarterback, so they were susceptible to fakes by a good ball-handler. Landry taught them to keep their eyes off the quarterback, for the most part."
2. "For example, linebackers usually keyed on the guards (although, against certain teams or certain offensive sets, a linebacker might key on one of the running backs). If a guard pulled, it usually indicated which way a play was going, and linebackers were expected to flow in that direction."

The benefit of reading keys is that a player can be trained to react quickly and correctly to offensive plays. Otherwise, the offensive element of surprise might always defeat even the best defensive team. Training to read keys happens everyday in practice. A coach teaches players their keys based on position and situation, and then runs practice drills time and time again until players learn to react without thinking.

Christians can take a page from the football playbook and learn to read keys and respond without thinking. For example guys, we men have to learn to avert our eyes when we come into proximity of an attractive woman wearing a low cut blouse. We also need to get our mind onto a prayer for her as fast as possible. It is very difficult to stare at her in lust if we avert our eyes and also ask Jesus to bless her and teach us to see her as a potential Christian sister as opposed to a sexual object.

How do we learn to read keys like this? Remember the words ‘maintain, practice, and regular’. Maintain bible study to learn the ‘keys’ . For instance, Proverbs 4:25 tells us to “look straight ahead”. Thus, when you are tempted, practice “looking straight ahead.” Next, regularly enter into prayer. Train yourself to read keys to become a person after God’s own heart.