One could make the argument that every Catholic should be a fan of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).  Their team’s name is an obvious connection.  What might be a little less so is the symbol on their helmet, the fleur de lis.  Most people take it as representing New Orleans’ French heritage, and that is a fair assumption.  It was founded as a French colony, and it retains some of that cultural flavor to this day.  However, its true origin is older.  The literal translation is “flower of lily,” or lily flower.  In Matthew 6:28, Jesus says, “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.”  Many have interpreted this to mean the flowers later adopted by the rulers of France, the lily itseld, but they are also seen as a representation of the Holy Trinity.  Think about all this the next time you see the fleur de lis on a Saints player’s uniform.  Then again, sports are subjective.  I am a fan of the Chicago Bears and have never felt compelled to root for any other team, including the Saints.  Nonetheless, I like their head coach (now former), Sean Payton (Kevin James), even if I did not enjoy Home Team (2022), the movie about one of the more turbulent times in his life.

You would not think there is any turbulence with the way Home Team begins.  It is 2010 and the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.  The various sports news outlets are full of praise for Sean and the guidance he provided on the way to the championship.  Two years later, he is sitting in his office looking forward to another season when he gets a call from the NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell (not pictured).  It has come to light that members of his coaching staff have been paying players to hurt opponents, a scandal that came to be known as Bountygate.  Before going further, I should mention that this is based on a true story, though it never goes into detail about what happened, nor is that the point of the film.  About all he says on the situation is that as head coach, he is the one to take responsibility.  In private, while he abides by the decision to suspend him, he demands that his agent appeal and find a way to return to his position with his team.  Instead of waiting for the results, he heads to Texas to visit his son, Connor Payton (Tait Blum).  Sean is divorced from Connor’s mother, Beth (Jackie Shandler), who has remarried to the complete opposite of Sean.  Beth’s new spouse is Jamie (Rob Schneider), who is into metaphysics and transcendental meditation.  Jamie’s advantage over Sean is that the former is present, whereas the latter is not.  Still, neither Beth or Jamie seem to hold it against Sean, though they are surprised to see him show up at Connor’s peewee football game.  Others notice the recognizable football personality, too, but Sean’s focus is entirely on what is happening on the field.  Connor’s team is being destroyed.  The match ends when the other side scores over forty points, at which point they turn off the scoreboard signaling the end regardless of how much time is left.  While Beth and Jamie invite Sean to stay after and interact with Conor, the twelve-year-old wants nothing to do with his dad.  The attitude is carried over when Sean is invited to their house as they host the team for a barbecue.  With Beth’s encouragement not to give up, Sean continues to come to the games, but his coaching instincts begin to get the better of him.  With time winding down in the next contest, he goes to Connor’s coach, Troy Lambert (Taylor Lautner), and suggests a defensive shift.  Troy relays the message, and it leads to the Warriors, the team’s name, scoring their first touchdown of the season.  Despite another lopsided score against them, the Warriors are thrilled by the points.  Seeking to continue the good feeling, Troy offers Sean the opportunity to be their offensive coordinator.  With his status in the NFL still uncertain, Sean accepts.  It also gives him the chance to spend more time with Connor.  Initially, the kid is not thrilled by this prospect, but gives in when Jamie suggests that they can work on meditation techniques instead of football.  What changes Connor’s mind is seeing the winning results his dad brings the Warriors.  Not only are they scoring more, they begin winning, at least after they are able to get the hang of the more complicated playbook.  However, things are not perfect.  The first challenge comes from parents who do not like seeing their offspring told to play a different position, though they are silenced by the success.  The questions resurface when the Warriors’ winning streak is snapped by the best team in their district, the Porcupines.  The other team’s coach (Isaiah Mustafa) taunts Sean throughout the Porcupines’ blowout victory.  Making matters worse are the presence of sports reporters, who not only comment on the loss but inform Sean that his suspension has been extended for the entire 2012 season.  It brings out his competitive spirit, determined to show all of them the mistake they made in doubting him.  While it gets the Warriors to a rematch with the Porcupines in the championship game, they make it there with Sean taking over more of the duties from Troy, only playing the best players, and forgetting to have fun.  It is Connor who shows his dad the mistake, saying that Sean is only there because of the suspension.  With this in mind, Sean calls upon Harlan (Manny Magnus), the Warriors’ kicker who has not made a field goal all year, to tie the contest in the closing seconds.  Though he misses, his attempt slams into the scoreboard and ignites a pyrotechnic display that thrills the crowds.  The important thing is that Connor is proud of his dad, and we close with them talking about Sean going back to coach the Saints.

The reunion of Connor and Sean is the point of Home Team, which makes it sound like a heartwarming tale.  It is, to a degree, but it is ruined by the fact that it was made by Happy Madison Productions.  In case you are unaware, this is the film production company owned by Adam Sandler.  Like him or not, he is a comedian, and thus they stuck Sandler-esque jokes into a movie that should have been more inspirational in tone.  It is hard to take the story seriously when the comedic relief, Mitch Bizone (Gary Valentine), an assistant coach, is chewing the scenery with his antics.  There are other examples of this, but there is one I can use for my Catholic analysis, and that is Jamie.  Obviously, Catholicism does not jive with transcendental meditation, or mantras, or at least we see them differently than they are portrayed in the film (albeit briefly).  The point of these practices, derived from Hinduism, is to elevate the mind to a higher form of consciousness.  They do so by spending time being quiet and still, and turning inward.  It is meant to promote awareness and stress relief.  All this might sound at least adjacent to Christian prayer.  After all, communicating with God can be described as a “higher form of consciousness.”  Further, if you use the Hallow app like I do, you might have noticed that their prayer time begins with quieting the heart and mind before entering into a time of prayer.  Where the two diverge is the ultimate goal.  We seek union with God, a much longer-term goal than a moment of heightened awareness.  In general, Christian prayer is more focused, whereas transcendental meditation is less so.  Nonetheless, I do mildly appreciate Jamie’s sign at one of the Warriors’ games, which reads, “You either win or grow.”  There is some wisdom in this statement.  Failure is a great teacher, and many saints over the centuries have commented on the graces that come from learning those lessons.

Despite this small lesson, there is little else to be gained from watching Home Team.  Is it worth sitting through to see the brief cameo by the real-life Sean Payton at the end?  No.  There are better things to do with your time.