People ask me ‘Why would I go back to play with all the issues I have?’ All I can say is, these issues I have also are caused by stress as well. People give me lots of stress too and that doesn’t cause a problem. So at least I can do something I love and I can control. Stress in fact is worse for me than impact I think. Laying the hit stick on someone is euphoric in ways I cannot begin to tell you. Getting yelled at, or being told what to do as a grown man, or told what you are doing wrong constantly, or just dealing with everyday stress is just plain awful and damaging. Everyone needs some type of release regardless of condition. Let’s talk football.
To be honest, I was a fair-weather football enthusiast until I became a coach 3 years ago. I knew football, I liked football but I didn’t KNOW football. Once I became an assistant coach for Tiny Mites (6-7 year olds) I learned a lot from the Head Coach. He was/is a very well versed man. I’m sad to say… I didn’t even know all the positions that well. I just laid back and watched. I pretended to know. As I watched him, I learned. One problem. He had a job. He is a firefighter and he sometimes had to work so the other coaches and I had to take over play-calling and running drills and such. The one thing I am good at is taking a scientific approach to whatever I set out to do. This was it. Once I did that, I was hooked. The Head Coach decided not to put in for the next year, I stepped up for the next year. Once I took over Junior Pee Wee 2, I was sold out. I created a playbook with over ONE HUNDRED pages of plays, drills, and techniques to teach these kids. It wasn’t about winning. It was about winning. It was (and still is) about teaching. I want these kids to think. I want them to know positions, gaps, gap responsibility, holes, techniques. Yes, at the age of 9. We didn’t win one game last year. Not one. But guess what? I took fifteen kids (twelve of them never played football before) and I could add in a new play, formation, and technique MIDGAME and we could do it successfully! Yeah, mark of good coaching. All of the kids were doing good in school and respecting each other and their parents. A few coaches I look up to are:
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| Tom Landry |
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| Vince Lombardi |
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| Bill Belichick |
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| Bill Parcells |
If you ever get the chance to watch Reflections On A Life In Football on NFL Network definitely do. It is really good.
Where do I see life taking me? I have no idea. I’m still looking for a job. I’m actually on LinkedIN, Monster, CareerBuilder, and I check CraigsList from time to time but I’m sketched out by it because I would think most companies would use reputable newspapers or job search engines rather than Craigslist. Time will tell if I can come up with something.
Last topic for today… Truth in self.
No matter what people may think, I don’t have to be right. I just know who I am. I am one of those people who absolutely annoy others because I have spent so much time analyzing what works for me and what doesn’t that I have no problem telling people no or yes because if I don’t like it, I just don’t like it and that’s that. Hate it or love it. Maybe it’s the ease with which I do it that comes off as me being a jerk? I think it’s not fair when people do things to ‘make someone feel better’ or ‘to appease someone elses ego’ because then you will be expected to do it all the time and eventually you will grow to resent that person or you will grow to hate that thing because you won’t give it a fair shot because it was never in your time. It was ‘forced’ on you.
A part of knowing who you are, people will talk about you. It happens to me all the time. I really don’t care about that. People I care about talk about me. They call me Duck for a reason. That stuff rolls off of me usually like water rolls off of a Duck’s back. Since I know the person I am, there isn’t a person who knows me better than me. If I write a book, who is gonna tell me what I meant when I wrote the ending? They can’t. I have to stay the course and be true to myself always. Even when other people hate me for it I just have to stay the course. Sucks, but it is just the facts.
It kills me to hear complaining over the same things without trying anything. If you’re doing the best you can to change it, then keep complaining. I’ll be there to listen and I’ll even complain with you. Why complain if you aren’t changing anything? Or goodness, don’t complain if you don’t want me to say anything. ESPECIALLY if you’re gonna complain about the same thing you complain about everyday. As my old Drill Sergeant used to say, don’t tell me fifteen different ways to run the flag up the damn pole, just run the flag up there!! In other words, if you never do it don’t say a word. Don’t bother saying what you’re gonna do if you aren’t going to do anything. Life is hard enough to live for ourselves, sometimes all we have is ourselves… work hard to get through the darkness or navigate by YOUR OWN FAITH! Complaining about it all the time will serve no one. Standing in the dark and screaming about it will:
A) Leave you still in the dark
B) Get you nowhere
C) Is just plain silly
D) Shows that you have no faith in yourself
E) Are co-dependent on someone else and need to get a grip
Football is a science that is always changing and the variables are never, ever the same and can make you crazy as a player, coach, spectator, and fan. I am blessed to be all four at the same time on the youth, semi-pro, and professional levels. Wow! That’s a lot to say.
I know all these things. I believe all these things. Let me ask you… What do you believe?
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