Anybody watch that little football game the other night? You know, the one where Philadelphia wins their first ever Super Bowl and their first NFL championship since 1960?
It was a decent game.
“Thank you King Obvious.”
Whatever…troll.
You can’t always expect the player with the greatest physical gifts to be the biggest stars in football. Sometimes the underdog is the one who has the greatest career.
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Reflecting on the football season that just passed, I got present to something really powerful. You can’t always expect the player with the greatest physical gifts to be the biggest stars in football. Sometimes the underdog is the one who has the greatest career.
Remember Courtney Brown? He was the number one pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He was a physical specimen and appeared to be a football playing cyborg.
He is also considered one of the biggest busts in NFL draft history.
The 199th pick in that draft was Tom Brady.
But I’m not talking about a guy who has five Super Bowl rings, has a house with a moat, and a Brazilian supermodel wife as being an underdog anymore.
What I’m present to is this: hard work, being coachable, and being passionate about what sets your soul on fire is the key to making history in your life.
As I’ve mentioned in my weekly column many times, I am a die-hard devotee to the Alabama Crimson Tide. And I love seeing guys like Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, and Eddie Lacy making big names for themselves in the NFL.
Those were three highly-recruited, elite prospects before they even put on the Crimson and White for the first time. They are but a few of many elite prospects who have passed through Tuscaloosa in the past decade.
Consider former Bama offensive lineman Chance Warmack. He won three national championships at Bama. And this season marks the sixth year in a row that an ex Bama player wins the Super Bowl as he was a reserve offensive guard with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Keep this in mind, Alabama has been recognized as having the number one recruiting class for the last seven years in a row.
However, one of the best stories in Bama’s 2017 Championship season was not one of those elite prospects. This is a guy who went from being a walk-on to a star.
Levi Wallace wanted to give up football. He was disenchanted with the game and his mind and heart was elsewhere. His thoughts were back home in Arizona with his father’s battle with ALS.
In his first semester as a student at the University of Alabama, he played intermural flag football.
In a trip back home, Levi saw how bad his father Walter’s ALS had progressed. Levi wanted to leave school and stay home to take care of his father.
But Walter and his mother Wendy convinced him to not just go back to school, but to walk on with the Crimson Tide football team.
“Just see how good you are,” Walter told his son.
Levi found himself facing guys like Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Marlon Humphrey every day in practice. To say nothing of Reggie Ragland, Ruben Foster, and A’Shawn Robinson.
And many, many others.
Every player I just mentioned are either already making names for themselves in the NFL or in Fitzpatrick’s case, will be drafted highly in the 2018 draft.
But Levi worked hard, dug deep, and managed to work his way into the playing rotation for the 2017 season and became a real shut-down defensive back,
His biggest game of the season was against Ole Miss when he had two interceptions and ran one of them back for a touchdown.
And he had a clutch pass breakup against Georgia in the National Championship Game.
Let’s turn the page and talk about another underdog who just won a championship. He’s a guy who went from considering retirement from football and joining the ministry, to Super Bowl Champion and Super Bowl MVP.
In a Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Eagles starting quarterback Carson Wentz had to leave the game with an apparent knee injury. It turns out that he tore his ACL and was out for the rest of the season.
In his young career, Nick Foles defined what it meant to be a journeyman. Since 2012, he has been with the Eagles twice, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the St. Louis Rams. And he saw little playing time with them all.
But he was forced into action against LA and barely looked back.
Again, here was a guy who had strongly considered giving up football and becoming a minister. But he stuck with the game he loves and went on to play brilliantly in the playoffs.
He had a completion percentage of almost 73%, and only threw one interception during the Eagles’ three playoff games.
A king may not have the most talent of them all. He may not be the best looking or the most charismatic… Your heart is what makes you a king.
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Many – me included – were impressed by how calm and collected he was on the biggest stage of them all. All the while, playing against of the best dynasties in pro football history.
“You know, we’ve played this game since we were little kids. We’ve dreamed about this moment. There’s plenty of kids watching this game right now, dreaming about this moment [who] someday will be here. And to be here with my daughter and my wife, my family, my teammates, this city – we’re very blessed.”
And now he’s probably going to be the hottest free agent this NFL offseason.
There’s a lesson to be learned here with both these guys.
Nothing beats hard work, being coachable, and having passion. This is universal.
And this is not just football either. The person who may not be as talented, but who has the will to win and the courage to never quit, that’s the person who can change the world.
As the iconic Bama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant famously said…
“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit – you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”
There’s a lesson in this for all of us.
A king may not have the most talent of them all. He may not be the best looking or the most charismatic.
But a king takes what he has and makes the best of it.
Ask Kurt Warner, Jerry Rice, Levi Wallace, and Nick Foles.
Your heart is what makes you a king.
Photo by Stròlic Furlàn