Football continues to play an important part in Father Brett Jamrog’s life

The parallels between football and the Catholic faith are obvious to Father Brett Jamrog.

“I still remember doing two-a-days. It was terrible,” said Father Jamrog, who played tight end and defensive end for Lincoln Pius X Catholic High School.

“But you had to go through the two-a-days though, and you had to sacrifice in order to become a stronger player, and the Christian life is a lot like that. We have to deny ourselves in order to really grow in conformity with Christ.”

The priest – now associate pastor of Our Lady of the Saints Family of Parishes in South Omaha, which encompasses Assumption-Guadalupe, St. Mary and Sts. Peter and Paul – cites St. Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians in further connecting sports and faith.

“St. Paul talks about running a lot. You run to win. You don’t play to lose. As a Catholic we play for Heaven even though there are sacrifices,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of things that go together, and I bring it up in homilies a lot.”

After his high school playing days, Father Jamrog was on a path that easily could have taken him into the coaching profession.

The son of former University of Nebraska player and coach Jeff Jamrog, he worked four years with the Cornhusker football team as a student manager as well as in the recruiting office.

“I’ve always had a heart for sports, especially football my dad being a coach,” Father Jamrog said. “I was going to practices. I’d watch film with my dad at times. So I always had a mind for the game.”

Father Jamrog’s family is pictured in early 2014, following Nebraska’s 24-19 win over Georgia in the New Year’s Day Gator Bowl. From left is his mother, Connie; sister, Elizabeth; father, Jeff; and brothers Brett and Jared. COURTESY PHOTO

Growing up, Father Jamrog had a front-row seat to the highs and lows of college football as his father’s coaching stops took him to South Dakota, New Mexico State, Nebraska at Omaha and Minnesota State in addition to two stints with the Cornhusker program.

Jeff Jamrog, now head coach at Midland University in Fremont, worked on the staffs of Frank Solich and Bo Pelini until those head coaches were fired. Father Jamrog remembers well.

“People ask what’s your Husker football fandom like? It’s complicated,” Father Jamrog said. “It’s such a part of my life, I always cheer for them, but it’s just tough though. It’s easier now with (head coach Matt) Rhule. He seems more like a Bo and a Frank. More a salt of the earth kind of guy. It’s just tough we had to go through the dark years.

It was during his father’s years on the Pelini staff that Father Jamrog was immersed in the program as a student manager. His senior year, he worked with then-running backs coach Ron Brown and eventual NFL players Rex Burkhead and Ameer Abdullah, as well as Imani Cross. His duties included setting up drills and sometimes participating in them, holding tackling dummies or handing the ball to the backs.

Working alongside Brown, a devout Christian who is on the current Cornhusker coaching staff, left a lasting impression on Father Jamrog.

“That guy is just an incredible man. He treats everyone with so much respect and dignity, but also he’ll just talk about God openly,” he said. “Players would walk out (to practice) and he’d say ‘God gave you these talents and abilities and you got to use them.’ He wasn’t afraid to say it.”

Student Brett Jamrog, with his back to the camera, kneels as Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown leads a prayer following the Holiday Bowl in December 2014. COURTESY PHOTO

Brown said Father Jamrog was bright, disciplined, enthusiastic and compassionate toward others during his student manager days.

Father Jamrog often heard Brown’s message to players and student managers that they could “enjoy an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and trusting Him as the Lord and Savior.”

“I think Brett picked up all that,” Brown said.

It was during his junior and senior years when Father Jamrog felt the tug between entering the priesthood or following in his dad’s footsteps as a coach.

“I always wanted to coach more than I wanted to play. Being a coach you’re almost like a father to 120 guys,” he said. “There was always the temptation: Can I influence more people being a successful football coach than a priest? Obviously, I came to the realization – no, wherever God leads me is most important.”

After graduating in 2015 with a degree in business administration, he entered St. Gregory the Great Seminary in the Diocese of Lincoln. He was there two years before finishing formation with the Archdiocese of Omaha at Kennick-Glennon Seminary.

Even in formation, football remained dear to his heart.

“The joke in the seminary was it’s more entertaining to watch Jamrog watch the game than to actually watch the game,” he said. “I look for things like it’s second-and-8. The past few times they passed. Are they going to run now? It’s ingrained in me. Just like growing up a coach’s kid, playing the game, working for the team. It is part of who I am.”

Father Jamrog said it was no secret that he was giving serious thought to religious life as he participated in a Bible study group his junior and senior years of college.

“My senior year, looking back now, I only read one book on the away flights, ‘To Save a Thousand Souls’ by Father Brett Brannen, a priest in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

“It’s all about discerning your vocation. I was very open about it, about discerning the priesthood. People knew that it was on my radar, and so my whole senior year was kind of like a tug and pull.”

In the end, he listened to his heart and not the headset.

“Vocation comes from desire. As I was going through college, my desire for the priesthood grew and my desire to do my own will lessened,” Father Jamrog said. “If there are any youth out there who are thinking about the priesthood, pay attention to that desire in your heart.”

Father Jamrog, pictured in the forefront, is shown as he is about to be ordained in 2022. ROBERT ERVIN

After his ordination to the priesthood in 2022, his first assignment was at the Heart of Jesus Family of Parishes in northeast Nebraska, which included Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk. While there, Father Jamrog was able to combine ministry and his coaching acumen as he served as Norfolk Catholic High School football team’s chaplain.

Football, he said, was a natural way to connect with the students.

“It helped because I know the game,” he said. “I would go to practice (and) could ask legitimate questions, like David City Aquinas runs the triple option, what are you going to do?”

In addition to celebrating team Masses and being on the sideline on game nights, he participated in the team’s weekly Faith and Film sessions.

“I taught them how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (evening prayer) then they would watch (game) film,” he said. “It was good to teach them how to pray like that because it’s the prayer of the Church.”

Norfolk Catholic athletic director and 39-year football coach Jeff Bellar said Father Jamrog’s interaction with the football team, as well as the rest of the student body, was a positive for the school.

“I know our kids really enjoyed being around Father. They knew that he understood football (and) he was able to talk the lingo with them,” said Bellar, who in 2020 was inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame.

“He was able to add that component of our faith life to our school that we know is the most important reason we exist. I think he’s an outstanding young priest the Lord has called. We were very fortunate to have him here the length of time we did.”

This summer, Father Jamrog was named associate pastor of Our Lady of the Saints Family of Parishes in South Omaha.

Parish life, he said, is similar to team sports and the lessons learned on the gridiron and basketball court. For example, he said a middle linebacker can’t try to make every play but needs to rely on the defensive line and the secondary.

He points to charisms of the faith to accentuate that point.

“A charism is a gift from God (and) everyone has a different charism,” he said. “Some people are really gifted at intercessory prayer; some people have the charism of teaching, like catechism classes; some people have the charism of evangelization, having boldness and (building) relationships; some have the gift to help, like the Knights of Columbus who bust out a million pancakes.”

He said it’s important for people to “see that you have a role – you don’t have to do everything, but you have to do something. If everyone just stands on the sidelines, say goodnight.”

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