I’m out here at Umass football right now helping coach the team a little and be a positive voice for the team. Right now the team is struggling a little to get it going and have dropped the first 8 games. The first game that I was apart of was a game against Buffalo. We actually had the game in the bag. We were leading the whole game until the last 30 seconds when Buffalo scored a last second touchdown. The back story was that we actually intercepted the ball with 58 seconds left. All we had to do was get 1 first down and the game was over. It sounds pretty simple right? The team was jumping up and down celebrating acting as if we had already won. It reminded me of a clip that I had seen of Kobe Bryant. Kobe was playing in the NBA finals and his team was up 3-1. After the game a reporter asks him, are you celebrating yet? With a straight as can be face he says, the jobs not done. There ain’t nothing to celebrate yet. Now where does that come from? I’ll tell you from first hand experience, it comes from losing over and over again. It comes from being so close to success that you let your guard down a little and the victory is snatched from your hands. I think our team got a good taste of that. I can recall from many times in my career where I started to have a good stretch and I thought everything was good. Maybe I slowed up a little and put it in cruise control only to have my current success be swept away in an instant. You have to have that Kobe mindset of finishing the job no matter what. You have to stay calm and composed. Hungry, willing to go after it with everything you have and either failing miserably or triumphing grandly. I actually had a player come up to me today and ask me was it all worth it. Was going after the dream of playing in the NFL worth it? It’s a valid question for a player on a struggling team trying hard to help himself and the team turn around. To be honest, I have asked myself that question a lot lately. The answer is yes it was worth it. I had to sacrifice a lot to make my dream come true and even had to sacrifice more to stay in the NFL for the amount of time that I played. I was able to create so many memorable memories, inspire others and help a lot of people. So yes, the sacrifice was worth it and I know that looking back in 50 years if I am still alive, I can smile and be proud of what I did. I would say that I finished the job of making it to the NFL. I never like Kobe said celebrated too much, there was always more to do. Even when I got drafted it was like okay cool now what’s next to accomplish. I do think it’s important to enjoy the journey while your in it as well and that is something that I am starting to learn. Although don’t get it twisted, it takes what it takes. So, get the job done. Don’t get caught celebrating too early like us. Keep going!
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