Tami Taylor: Helpmate and Feminist

In the opening episode of Friday Night Lights, the viewer learns a little bit about Tami Taylor when she declares, "His and her closets, baby" during the Taylor's house shopping. Tami may seem to easily fit the helpmate norms of a coach's wife within the show. The helpmate character has historically provided private support for the "man of the house" and raises the children; it most often has been a wife who aids and helps the husband so that he can execute his job. In planning and executing team parties at the Taylor home, being sounding board for Eric and their daughter, Julie, and being the guidance counselor at Dillon High School, Tami exemplifies the helpmate character. In this regard, Tami provides emotional and rational guidance to Eric and the students of Dillon High. She takes care of the private sphere of the home, even when Eric temporarily leaves in Season 2 for a college job in Austin. In being an aide or helper to a male, the character of Tami Taylor continues a limited role for women in the public sphere. Tami does not get the same glory that Coach Taylor receives in winning a game when she helps a student stay academically eligible or deal with emotional troubles. Instead, she becomes embroiled in controversy when she counsels a teen about adoption and abortion options during Season 4. As an aide, Tami fits within feminine stereotypes and limits women's decisions to the emotional rather than rational. In this way, the Tami character on FNL continues a gender dichotomy where the woman's job is deemed less important than the man's. But this ideology of a coach's wife blindly following the coach is challenged in Season 5.

During Season 5, the family's decision to move from town to town to advance Eric's career becomes a divisive issue. Coach Taylor is once again recruited by a college and the town again tries to convince him to stay. While Eric decides his heart is in Dillon and with his team during the "Don't Go" episode, Eric's job is not assured because of budget cuts and the potential of there being only one football team in Dillon next year. In "The March" episode, though, Tami blossoms. She interviews for an admissions position at a Philadelphia university. During the episode, Tami is offered the Director of Admissions position, which Eric does not respond positively too because he coaches football in Texas. Tami's response to the unsettling and lack of congratulations: "I don't see why we can't just look at something beyond football." The viewers finally learn of Tami's own discontent and career aspirations in the last few episodes of the show. Tami's own desires, though, are stressful and tension filled for the couple. While Eric is offered the job to remain Dillon's football coach, the family must decide whose job offer should come first. In the series finale, "Always," Tami has a few choice words for her husband: "It's my turn babe. I have loved you and you have loved me and we have compromised, both of us...for your job. And now it's time to talk about doing that for my job." The viewer realizes the compromise has always been for Eric, not Tami. Her interests were secondary in relation to his rise to head coach. The dagger for Eric, though, was when Tami stated: "Don't forget that the people who are offering you this job are the same people who fired you for no reason 2 years ago." As the voice of reason, not emotion which Eric is displaying, Tami fires the last salvo in their fight over jobs. Tami does become the Director of Admissions at Braemor College and the Taylors move to Philly. Tami's job offer came first and she leads the family into a new direction. In this regard, the helpmate character becomes refined and more liberating for women. Tami still is the motherly figure, but she comes first rather than football. In this way, the ending of the show and Tami challenge who's job is more important and the role of wife as more than just helper.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose!

In nearly every episode of Friday Night Lights, one of the Panthers or Lions players or Coach Eric Taylor belts out the team's rallying cry of "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." The meaning and purpose of the phrase adapts to the trials and tribulations of the players and their seasons. The phrase is used throughout the show in victory and defeat, thus it is more than a pep rally phrase for the players; instead, it encapsulates their growth as players and men.

The viewer first encounters the phrase during the show's first episode as Coach Taylor is about to lead his team out on to the field for their first game. Surrounding the slogan, Coach Taylor discusses the lofty expectations fans and media personnel have heaped onto the team. In the context of his speech, Taylor imparts the slogan to mean accountability, focus on one's self, and humbleness. If the players approach the game without the hype or expectations, but rather play within their own abilities (and presumably the game plan), then the team will succeed. Their coaches have taught them the proper techniques and are focused on the W. They must do what they have been coached to do--no more, no less--and they will be victorious. This makes it seem that the slogan is merely a rallying cry for winners.

Over the course of the show, though, the slogan means more than simply winning the game, but also imparts the importance of football to the lives of the players. In a montage of its use throughout the seasons, we see that the slogan is inspirational to the players not only to win on the field, but to win in life. By approaching life with honesty, heart, and accountability, the "loss" is not really a loss. Instead, the slogan imparts the value of doing one's best and accepting that it doesn't always mean a W. The important element, though, is that it does not mean that the non-winner is a loser, but rather that by upholding values of perseverance, humility, and dedication, the individual is a winner regardless of what the "scoreboard" says as time expires.

In this regard, the slogan encapsulates American culture's desire to win because it is a rallying call of the Panthers and Lions who win often during the show's five seasons, including two state championships for Coach Taylor at two Dillon high schools. The slogan also demonstrates sport's influence in teaching critical social values like winning, dedication, preparation, and others. Moreover, the slogan also critiques American culture's lament of the loss and rejection of losers. In this sense, the slogan is much more complex than viewers' first encounter with its usage in the first episode. Over time, viewers learn that winning isn't everything and that we need to appreciate the effort and dedication because everyone can't get the W every time. But winning is also fun.