If you’ve followed me for a while, you probably know my story and that as a kid I wanted to be the best NFL safety in the world. So I trained for 20 years to be that and was drafted in 1984.
I’ll never forget my first game. We were playing a great team full of all-pros and Super Bowl champions. These were guys I’d looked up to my whole life. As I’m looking at them, the ball is snapped and they give it to their running back. As I’m running over to tackle him, the last 20 years of training passes before my eyes. This is it. My dream is coming true.
As the running back gets closer to the sidelines, I speed up. He steps out of bounds before I can hit him, but I hit him anyway and that’s illegal.
The ref goes, “Rookie, you can’t hit a man who’s out of bounds.” I said to him, “Wait a second. Are you going to penalize me?” And he says, “Yes, you can’t do what you just did.” So I said, “But this is my first play in the NFL and you’re telling me you’re going to punish someone who’s playing with the full intent and spirit of the game?”
The ref thought I was crazy. That was 30 years ago. Think about our world now. If you’re playing the game with the full spirit and intention it was meant to be played with, shouldn’t that be rewarded? And shouldn’t cowardice be, at least, frowned upon. This is my question for you:
Where are you stepping out of bounds?
Think about that in your business life or your home life. Where are you taking the coward’s way out? You may be getting rewarded for that in this day and age. We’re all guilty of it. Being out of bounds is a safe place. Don’t play it safe. Play the game of life with the full spirit in which it was intended.
Tell me where you’re stepping out of bounds by leaving a comment below.
