With all the bad news associated with football recently, we would do well to remember the many positive influences it has had on countless players and coaches through the years. The College Football Hall of Fame just opened in Atlanta, and while it celebrates the athletic achievements of many, it would not be possible to honor all those whose experience in the sport led them to be far better citizens than they would have with that influence. Share a few stories with your team about the football players whose stories you know who have made the greatest difference in the lives of others. Then, remind them of these words of Vince Lombardi – and maybe post them on your locker room wall:
“Character is the integration of habits of conduct superimposed on temperament. It is the will exercised on disposition, thought, emotion and action. Will is the character in action. … The character, rather than education, is man’s greatest need and man’s greatest safeguard, because character is higher than intellect. While it is true the difference between men is in energy, the strong will, in the settled purpose and in the invincible determination, the new leadership is in sacrifice, it is in self-denial, it is in love and loyalty, it is in fearlessness, it is in humility, and it is in the perfectly disciplined will. This gentlemen, is the distinction between great and little men.” (or women!)
