A Challenge to our Players
Transcript of A Challenge to our Players
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A Challenge to our Players:
In many years of both coaching and playing football, from the junior
high level through college, I have learned many lessons about the game of
football and life in general. Throughout these years I have seen thousands of
football players, most of which were of average level, some that were above
average, and a rare few that were outstanding.
Common to all of the outstanding football players was that they
possessed certain attributes that made them successful, regardless of their
individual playing style. Obviously, all had been taught the fundamentals of
the game throughout their lifetimes at different levels of the game. Things
like proper footwork, blocking, tackling, throwing technique, were evident
and put to successful use. Fundamentals such as these are the easy things to
teach and learn. Most football players can learn and execute the basic
fundamentals to an average level, but only a few will have the focus and
work ethic to master them and thus have the potential to be a great player.
The true key to success in any endeavor is the possession of intangible
skills, which are skills that the average competitor does not possess nor
comprehend. These intangible skills are much harder to teach and to learn
than the basic fundamentals. Here lies the great, difficult lesson. At first
glance, the questions seem simple, as do the answers, yet the answer to this
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lesson is a paradox requiring a blend of personality and physical abilities
that can only be tempered on the forge of competition.
Indeed, to succeed in any sport, it takes a mix of personality traits and
physical abilities to reach and sustain a level of greatness. Although the
mixtures are different for all different players, the ingredients are essentially
the same. They all have Heart; a term by which I use to describe a passion to
play that is driven by a burning desire to win. They have Courage, which
means they are competitors who have no fear, they never give up and they
never quite, regardless of situation. They have Commitment, which means
that they care about their teammates and the success of the team more than
their personal glories or ambitions. Lastly, they have Honor, a code by
which they conduct themselves to the highest accord. This code is founded
on the principle of doing things the right way, with a high degree of self-
confidence and discipline.
It seems so simple, heart, courage, commitment and honor. These are
the four simple words are the ingredients of the intangible skills. It is a
pity that so very few people will ever have the joy of possessing them,
because they can only be learned and earned on the forge of competition. In
life, as in football, the spectators and teammates can see when a competitor
lacks these qualities, they can see the quitter in the person who points
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fingers, blames others and makes excuses to deflect from their deficiency. In
both football and life, the success of these persons always comes to a falter
and a stop when the pressure mounts past their tolerances. The reality check
comes when they are required to look within themselves for the intangible
skills to carry them through the task at hand and they find that they do not
possess them.
Do you possess these intangibles?