I texted my longtime-friend Joey (who I have known since 5-year-old kindergarten). We played football together at Marietta, Georgia’s Sprayberry High School in the mid 1980’s. He was a linebacker and a team leader. I was a defensive end and a decent athlete. As we were texting, I mentioned to him that I had spoken to a group of high school athletic directors about how being a football player had helped me become an editorial cartoonist. I then said, “I also brought up today the fact that an inordinate number of our teammates are now very successful. He agreed and said he had recently had a similar conversation. For example, a few of the job titles our friends have: CEO of a software company he also founded (his second one), mayor of a growing Georgia city, a landscape architect and successful business owner in the Charlotte, NC area, drummer of the Georgia Satellites — and one modestly successful cartoonist. I said that many of the things that we learned out on the football field are qualities that have helped me in my career. I promised Joey I’d share some of the things I brought up in the speech.
Here they are.
• We learned that a playing field, court, track or any other place you compete is a laboratory for life. When you fail on the field, you don’t lose your house (or worse.) It’s not the end of the world. But it teaches you resilience and allows you to develop the tools to win — both on the field and in life.
• We learned that there is no I in team. (Although there is a ME in team – but I digress.) When you go through Hell (two-a-days), you bond. Our senior team consisted of pretty good friends by the time the 1985 season came around. Yes, we had some individual talent but because we weren’t prima donnas, we played above our collective talent. Thinking about it today, we were more WE than ME.
• We learned how to think when we were tired. Our defensive coordinator had a particularly sinister form of conditioning that taught me more about making sure I think when I am tired than anything I’ve ever done in my life. We started with five jumping jacks. We had to finished them in unison. If someone screwed up, the coach added one more jumping jack. And in between them, we ran 50-yard sprints. If we got it right, we went down a number. You learned quickly how to be precise when you felt like lying down and quitting. Believe me, that comes in handy during the fourth quarter. Or when you have a project due tomorrow and it is already almost midnight. It also helped at mile 20 of a marathon I ran.
• We learned that even when we think we’ve given our all, we still have more in our tank. Retired Navy SEAL and motivational fitness guru David Goggins puts this well when he says that we all have 40% more in our tank when our brain says, “STOP!” The trick is to train your brain to get out of the way. Once it does, you know how to push past your fatigue. That’s why you train for so many miles before a marathon. You have to develop muscle memory that keeps you pushing forward.
• We learned that attitude is the x-factor. Our friend Keith wasn’t particularly big, but he was a heck of an offensive lineman. What made him good was what was going on between his ears. He had a great attitude — almost Rudy-like. Just think if we could approach our daily lives with that kind of energy and effort. The world would change in a day for the better.
• We learned that there are four quarters and you play all four of them. Our coaches wouldn’t let us quit. And if we did, practice wasn’t going to be a bucket of chuckles the next Monday. Today, it’s good to know that as long as you are in the game, you still have a chance. It’s a solid philosophy for life.
• We learned how to adjust in the middle of the game. So if you were down at halftime, you looked at what you were doing and adjusted accordingly. You didn’t whine. You didn’t quit. You didn’t lie down on the field. Now that I am an adult, if something bad happens to me or my career, I adjust accordingly. It’s a powerful skillset to have — being able to have the flexibility to regroup and relaunch.
• We learned the value of watching film and planning. We’d watch film of the other team to get a feel for their players and plays. We’d practice and the scout team would mimic the other team. We’d develop our game plan based on it and execute.
• We learned that games in the fall are won by the work you put into the weight room in the summer. Time has taught me that your success is because of the work you do when no one is looking. There are no bright lights, cheering crowds or lit scoreboards when you’re in the weight room. But that’s where you build your base, your strength. That’s where victories are launched and set on their course. The work you do in the office when no one is praising you is what will get you the raise. It’s the practice you put in when no one is cheering you on. It’s the miles you run before a marathon.
• We learned how to handle disappointment — when you get knocked down, you get back up as quickly as you can. Losing sucks. But losing without learning a lesson thus you keep losing sucks even worse. Coming back from a loss is one of the most valuable skills I personally learned. Wallowing in self pity is a huge waste of life.
• We learned how to be coachable. This is where the ego can trip you up. Yet once you learn the difference between constructive criticism and the other kind, you begin to soar. Learning to recognize teachable moments is a huge step towards success. Not being a whiny baby when they happen is even bigger. As for negative criticism, you can choose not to engage it. If a turd floats by in a stream, you don’t have to reach down and grab it. You allow it to float on by.
• We learned that a good coach can change your life and that a bad coach can stiffen your spine. We had some really great coaches. When our head coach, Coach John Paty died, the huge church sanctuary was packed full of men who had had their lives shaped by him. But sometimes in life, you get a coach who is not so good. For whatever reason, this person may not like you and may even try to make you quit. That’s when you stiffen your spine and your resolve. That’s when you refuse to give in and you keep pushing.
• We learned the value of support. Our parents were good parents — actually no, they were excellent parents. They let the coaches coach and they supported us 100%. At the end of the day, it is hard NOT to be successful when you are blessed with that kind of support.
P.S. — Other things I learned while playing football:
- I learned meteorology — I can tell when it is going to rain thanks to a 1984-era separated shoulder.
- It is better to tackle a running back when your helmet is on. My nose still isn’t the same.
- “Rub a little dirt on it” was universal healthcare on the practice field.
- Running up huge concrete stadiums makes it hard to push in a car’s clutch after practice.
- Never cheer rain right before practice. The sun WILL come out and make it a steam bath.
- Morning two-a-days practice was rougher than evening practice. It was more humid and the cut Bermuda was wet and would stick to everything.
- Water from a hot rubber hose is the same temperature as the sun and tastes like a hot rubber hose.
- Black helmets are Easy Bake Ovens for your brain.
- “Get your mind right,” is a plea for you to stop being an idiot.
- An unwashed practice jersey smells like ammonia after three days. Get enough of them in a locker room and flies will literally drop out of the air dead.