Two Questions To Ask Yourself

1. How important is it to you, to be your best?   

Many of you play this game for a multitude of reasons but those reasons have to come back to the essence of who you are. There has never been a player to reach his peak level of performance that played this game for reasons outside of himself. You can't be driven by the notion of fame, scholarships, NFL, money, women or family. I understand these are real ancillary motivations that are important to some, but football is too difficult of a lifestyle for those ancillary motivations to be primary motivators.

To be your best, you have to want to be your best.

2. What did you do today to make your tomorrow better?

Very similar to all of you, I often make an ass out of myself by assuming. We often assume that tomorrow is promised to us and it's not.  I know you have heard the old saying, "play every play as if it's you last" but probably never took into account the depth of the adage. The position you play is an inherently violent one and the violence often lends itself to the its natural byproduct, injury.  You really don't know when the next snap is going to be your last.  Had I known the last organized football game I was going to play in was the 2006 NFL Pro Bowl, I would have enjoyed the experience a lot more.  I was young and my football mortality was not a concern.  My last snap was 6 months after the Pro Bowl during the first snap of 9 on 7, the first day of training camp.  This was after I had became the highest paid center in the history of the National Football League.  My point, there may not be a tomorrow, take every practice, every rep, every game as if it's your last.  When we take this approach, you enjoy the experience more and engulf yourself mentally into the moment. With this, you are sure to reach your potential and leave the game with zero regrets.

Be careful not to jump to conclusions even when things appear to be clearly a certain way 

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