Amid the action and hype of an NFL football game, the role of a ballboy might seem like a bit part. Ballboys carry out the invisible but vital work of limiting their team’s down time while helping to keep the ball game—quite literally—rolling along. However, this behind-the-scenes role introduced one ballboy to one of the most influential people he’d ever have the privilege to know.
Today, Jeffrey Marx is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, but he was just 12 years old when he signed up to be a ballboy for the Baltimore Colts. For most of his childhood, Marx had looked up to Joe Ehrmann, who ran a stout defensive tackle for the Colts during the 1970s. After their first encounter in 1974, eighteen years passed before Marx reconnected with Ehrmann, who by that time was coaching a high school football team in Baltimore, MD. What began as a casual catch-up turned into an hour-long phone call.
I was so intrigued by Joe that, in summer 2001, I drove up to Baltimore from Washington, D.C. to see his first practice of the season. I was so drawn into his life that I spent the whole season with him
Jeffrey Marx
As Marx re-engaged with Ehrmann, he began to see the larger-than-life role that Ehrmann had come to play in Baltimore. The former football star now served as pastor of a large church and led an inner-city ministry known as The Door, which was founded in 1984 and focused on pervasive local issues such as individual and family needs, racial reconciliation, social justice, and economic development. Through the ministry, Ehrmann was finding ways to integrate his sports experience with his commitment to service, to more effectively help people in need.
The story of Joe Ehrmann and Jeffrey Marx's transformative friendship is shared in Marx's book, "Season of Life."
After a season spent observing the Gilman team, Marx set out to chronicle the initiative that Ehrmann was spearheading, both on and off of the field. “The main reason Joe wanted to coach high school football was to use sports as a way to build up young men of substance––men with honesty, courage, compassion, and above all, kindness,” said Marx. In Marx’s telling, Joe Ehrmann’s story reveals how the former NFL star’s commitments to love and serving others have the power to transform the world of sports––in the lives of both players and coaches. Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey in Manhood was published in 2003.
In Season of Life, Marx recounts the unique approach that Joe Ehrmann brought to coaching his Gilman High School team. The four-step secret to his team’s successful defense was to penetrate, pursue, punish … and love. In the context of an often violent contact sport, Ehrmann remained committed to keeping love—for your team, for your fellow players—central to the team’s strategy. “It’s simple; it’s not about you,” writes Marx. “In fact, Joe makes it so clear what his intention is with his boys: to serve them, to teach them how to serve one another, and to play good old-fashioned football.” Season of Life reveals ways in which Ehrmann, by redefining masculinity, succeeds in reframing how we examine youth, leadership, community, and our relationships. While writing this book, Marx learned a lot himself—a journey that led to him strengthening his relationship with his father.
“It has been an incredible journey,” said Marx. “To me, and for Joe, this journey has been going and growing ever since we reconnected. Based on the messages of this book, we’ve worked together with prisons, schools, churches, community groups, and teams to help others adapt this message to their own needs. It has been incredible to play a small part.”
This year’s OBOC program begins with a free kickoff tailgate on Friday, March 14 from 5 pm–8 pm at the Main Library at Goodwood, with six weeks of free programming to follow. Find the schedule and other information at ReadOneBook.org.
