You Can't Weigh Success

Where are they now?

There isn’t a test, scout, coach, general manager, owner, draft guru or private investigator that can measure the real merit of an athlete. Teams get enamored with fast forty's and players that can leap tall buildings in a single bound. These test do a great job of measuring the tangibles of an athlete but the real predictor of success can't be assesed. Desire is the real salt of an athlete and time is the only way it can be weighed.

After all of the confetti and balloons are swept away; the contract is signed, cars and houses bought…what’s left? Sprite had it so right when they shot the commercials that lead with the catchphrase.."what's my motivation!?" Money and youth is an extremely volatile combination. Many people say, “if they paid me that kind of money I would work so hard!” My answer to that is always the same…”yea whatever”. These kids are thrust into a world they have only dreamed of since childhood. People are put around them that really don’t care to educate and empower the athlete but rather use and exploit for their gain. This is then combined with a level of pressure that would make King Kong cringe. NFL coaching is a job, and it’s a job that pays very well. Coaches, just as players are on a very short leash and their value is measured solely in the win/lose column. Every player on the roster is their to help win games therefore ensuring the coachs' employment. This dynamic is much different from the eutopia like atmosphere of their college locker room.

The point is this… Great players want to be great. There is nothing or no one that can stand in their way. There isn’t an amount of money or fame that can put a damper on the inner fire that is burning inside. Great players WANT to dominate and work endlessly to mold their bodies and minds into tools of mayhem. Unfortunately for the NFL, you can not put a “grade” on the size of a man’s heart.