Adverse affects

It has been said, “Most ordinary men avoid adversity, while extraordinary ones turn it to their advantage.”   These four professional football players exhibit this such ability.

Exhibit A- PERSERVERANCE

Last week, during the first NFL game of the season I saw something noteworthy. A lot of things nowadays don’t inspire me, but, ten year veteran tight end, Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys did just that.  Despite having just recovered from a lacerated spleen weeks before he suited up to play because he felt it was the right thing to do.

A deep loyalty to his team and a recent visit to a U.S. Navy SEALs base, also seemed to be key contributors to his desire to play.   As motivation, Witten had this Navy SEALs motto taped above his locker:  “I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. ….If knocked down, I will get back up every time. I will draw on every remaining source of strength to help my team and to accomplish our goal. I am never out of the FIGHT."

It’s not hard to admire such a work ethic.  Apparently, Witten was of the mindset that it was more painful to sit and watch, then to push through the discomfort and do what he could to help his team win the game.

Exhibit B- MOVING ON

 Nobody wants to be publicly humiliated, just ask Scott Norwood.  If you follow football, the phrase wide right takes you back to one of the most exciting finishes in Super Bowl history.  It was Super Bowl XXV and all Buffalo Bills’ kicker, Scott Norwood, had to do to beat the New York Giants and become the hero was to make a 47 yard field.  Conversely, when he missed, wide right, all he could do was clutch his helmet and drop his head in agony as the Giants’ players ran past him in celebration.  Before his ill fated attempt, Norwood was an above average field goal kicker.  Just a year later he was out of the NFL, never to return.  He it took it so hard that for years he could barely speak of the missed kick because it hurt too much.

However, a few years ago I read an article in Sports Illustrated where he was finally moving on with his life.  He believed he had learned from it and was now a better man for it.  At the time of the article, ten years ago, he was a real estate broker.  Norwood, from time to time, would even mention his missed kick in an effort to gain a couples ‘sympathy when showing a house. 

He had learned to appreciate the little things in life like his wife, three kids and a happy home in the suburbs. Just like Scott Norwood, we all miss from time to time, but it is truly important that we don’t allow one failure to cause us to miss out on life.  

Exhibit C- LAUGH IT OFF

Several years prior to wide right, Don McNeal suffered a similar fate in Super bowl XVII.  He was the Miami Dolphins’ defensive back who running back John Riggins of the Washington Redskins ran over on his way to scoring the decisive touchdown  of the game. I was in tenth grade at the time and being a huge Dolphins’ fan I still remember the play that turned the game, like it was yesterday. 

It was fourth and one. The Redskins were trailing the Dolphins by just a few points and needed a first down late in the game.  They handed the ball off to running back, John Riggins, who in Washington they referred to as the Diesel.  They play was expertly executed and it was Riggins’ 235 lbs vs. 190 lbs of cornerback Don McNeal at the 43 yard line.  The Dolphins’ cornerback never really stood a chance.  To this day, I still remember poor McNeal valiantly attempting to wrap himself around Riggins.  Then I watched in horror as Riggins shrugged him off like a bad habit galloping his way off into sunset and along with it any real chance for my team to win.

It was widely reported after the game that McNeal’s missed tackle had helped cost the Dolphins the Super Bowl.  Nevertheless, when I read about him a few years ago, I discovered he seemed to have taken the whole thing in stride and even laughs about it now.  In the article he tells of how when the Riggins’  highlight comes on around Super Bowl time that he calls his wife in the room and tells her jokingly that maybe this time he will make the tackle.

McNeal is now a pastor with a winning disposition, that works with the youth of his area. Funny how you can’t change the outcome, but in my opinion, Don McNeal got the last laugh.

Exhibit D- SOMETHING TO PROVE

When I think of Tom Brady, I think of a winner.  Born and bred in California, super model for a wife, three times Super Bowl winner and a guy who seems to have it all going for him.  By the time he retires he will have gone down as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL.

However, throughout his entire football career, up until his first Super Bowl win, he has always had to prove himself.  The scouting reports on Brady were that he was too slow, too slight, didn’t throw a tight enough spiral, and that he was not able to do make enough big plays.  He was a bench warmer in high school, college and then in the pros. No matter what he tried he never seemed to get noticed and there always seemed to be somebody better suited at his position standing in his way.

This all seemed to come to a head when it came time for Brady to be drafted in the NFL in 2000.  He was told he might go in the second round, but that came and went.  Eventually, in the sixth round, with the 199^th pick the New England Patriots took  him.  In referring to that day in an interview, Tom Brady, once said how horrible it was to think, “man, maybe no one wants you.”

In turn, that difficulty propelled him forward in his career to work harder and never to give up, no matter what. What perhaps sums up Brady best was when he told the New England Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft,  that he, Kraft,  had made one of the best decisions he had ever made when he picked Brady. Three Super Bowls later and counting, Tom made his point; don’t think I’m good enough, I’ll prove you wrong.

At one time or another, we all face situations in life when adverse affects us.   However, we must choose whether to punt the ball during these trying times or else keep driving till we score a touchdown.

Swavel