Meet Joe • Recent Press

2007

November 20

Ehrmann Reaches Hundreds at Colgate University

By: Zachary Carlisle, Contributing Writer

The former Syracuse University football star and Baltimore Colt was as powerful with his words as he used to be with his body.

Joe Ehrmann spoke to a crowd about three hundred strong at Colgate's Cotterall Court on Sunday evening. A brief introduction by Colgate President Rebecca Chopp gave way to Larry Briggs, the founder of the Builders, which was the group responsible for getting Ehrmann to speak in Hamilton. Briggs hoped that the message would be helpful for the community and thanked everyone for their support. Introducing Ehrmann was something he "had been waiting seven months to do" and with excitement he brought the former professional football player to the lectern. With passion and a great deal of care, Ehrmann outlined his thoughts on how he felt people should be trying to build better men and women through our youth. He detailed a "culture that sets up men for frustration and failure." It has become time to face this "crisis of masculinity" or what it means to be a man. Highlighting the facts that athletic ability, sexual conquests and economic were the current measuring sticks for what it meant to be a man, Ehrmann demonstrated how he felt this was the wrong message while at the same time damaging. Youth, he felt, need to be educated about the concept of "love."

Drawing on experiences from his professional career as well as his current vocation as the defensive coordinator at Baltimore's elite Gilman School, Ehrmann felt that one needs to discern how to bring a group together as a "team." This applies not only on the football field but also in everyday life with a community substituting for the notion of a team.

Relationships are what ultimately define a person, he argued, rather than any of the material things on which society is often so focused on. A series of stories ranging from how he dealt with the death of his younger brother during his playing days to the practice of teaching his high school players how to date properly helped to demonstrate his points beautifully.

As an accomplished speaker across the country, Ehrmann's message is embodied in his foundation "Building Men and Women for Others." With his wife, Paula, the two desire to inform, inspire and initiate individual, organizational and societal change that will empower men and women to be their very best personally, professionally and rationally. This comes forward in Ehrmann's approach to his high school players. The refrain that so clearly goes against the grain of the macho football culture is reflected in the call and answer that he finishes every practice with.

"What is our job?" he asks his team.

"To love us," they respond.

"What is your job?" he queries.

"To love each other" they tell him.

His message about youth and culture certainly had an effect on those who heard him speak. More information about Joe and his cause can be found at www.buildingmenandwomenforothers.com

©The Oneida Daily Dispatch 2007