I love the NFL. Currently, we are sandwiched between two weekends of 12 hours (or MORE!) of NFL football spread over both Saturday and Sunday.
Ahh, Heaven.
I’ve always enjoyed this game, and while I never played organized football as a kid, (Mom thought it was too dangerous) I dreamed of playing in the NFL. Sure I played pick up games in the neighborhood, and was able to convince my parents that flag football was safe enough to play, but I never got a chance to put on pads to pound any receivers who attempted to come across the middle. (Not in MY HOUSE) While I was too small to be a lineman, I was well suited to be a defensive back.
I recently looked up the odds in making it the NFL. As a Network Marketer, you endure critics and naysayers with extremely limiting beliefs who always point to odds. For most critics there is a real fascination and an incredible amount of attention on this illusion of the slim chance anyone has in making it in this industry. (We’ve heard of failure rates as high as 99%, while documentation concerning YTB states otherwise.) Odds can also be used as tool used to protect those we care about, or if it’s a personal shortcoming, a stat that makes us feel “average”.
Personally, I think odds are for suckers and excuse makers. Only to be pointed out to make ourselves and others feel better about our surroundings when our dreams, aspirations, and goals come up short.
I’ve often asked myself why be average? Life just seems too short, and there is too much out there to experience to settle for average. Be that as it may, as a society, we’re comfortable with “average” I guess because it makes us feel part of something bigger than ourselves.
When you think about the odds in making it in the NFL, there are 32 teams with 53 on the roster and 22 “starters” each, which makes 1696 total, but also means only 704 of the “lucky ones” will be playing a game they love at the professional level during the short 16 week season, and only 1 team of 32 professional teams will be able to claim themselves as “Champions” at the end of the year.
If someone wasn’t drafted out of college to come to the NFL and remained undrafted, you would think there would be a considerable amount of people who would point to those odds to help them feel better. Heck, I could even justify it with odds of 1 in 100,000, and that’s only includes the college ranks.
If you follow the NFL like I do however, there are plenty who are undrafted college players who sign as “free agents” and make the cut to play in the NFL. Willie Parker was one, and so was James Harrison. “Fast Willie” made a mark for himself during Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl run, and now holds a Super Bowl record for the longest touchdown run from scrimmage. (75 yards)
James Harrison however, had a slightly rougher road to travel. Not only was he undrafted, but he was cut three times, (twice by Pittsburgh and once by Baltimore) before he made the Steeler roster last year. I’m wondering how many times he was told after being undrafted combined with being cut, three times no less, that the “odds” were not in his favor and it’s okay to be “average” when it comes to NOT making it in the NFL.
Harisson did have one claim to fame during his stints with the Steelers and the Ravens which was documented back in 2005 when he slammed an out of control Cleveland fan to the turf, WWF style no less, during a Christmas weekend game at Heinz Field. (News coverage and video can be found here.) Not exactly what you want to be known for to document an illustrious carrier in the NFL.
But Harrison, like so many others with dreams and goals, was a stubborn man. Deep down inside, there was something driving him to move forward with his dream. He didn’t care about “odds” and he certainly didn’t want to settle for “average”. Harrison was determined to make it in the NFL.
Opportunity came knocking before the 2007 season after first round starter Joey Porter moved his $5 Million contract with his big and boisterous mouth, (which coincidentally was backed up with big and boisterious plays) to Miami. Many, including me didn’t understand the move in letting someone like Porter go, but in defense of Steelers Personnel Directors, Pittsburgh has a very long lineage outstanding linebackers since the early 70′s when Hall Of Fame linebackers named Ham and Lambert wreaked havoc for opposing teams. (Both Lambert and Harrison were from Kent State.) Harrision was re-signed by the Steelers in 2007 as an afterthought one week before training camp due to Clark Haggans , Porter’s tagged replacement for the season had broken his hand.
It’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You have to be the right person in the right place at the right time.
~ T. Harv Eker
What if Harrison wasn’t working out before the season? What if he feared being cut again? What if he lost his dream?
What may shock some is that Harrison still believed he could contribute. He also had some lofty goals. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that he had a goal of 12 sacks before the 2007 season started. He recorded 8.5 sacks in 2007 and doubled that to 16 sacks for 2008, the most in one season by any Steelers Linebacker, and he also leads the NFL for all Linebackers over the last two years with 24 total sacks.
During the 2007 season Harrison took full advantage of his opportunity. I still remember a Monday night game against Balitmore last year when Harrison had 10 tackles, caused 3 forces fumbles, had 3.5 sacks, and added an interception for good measure.
Joey who?
That’s what we’re now saying after his second full season as a starter in this League of incredible odds. Why, because he never gave up, he never doubted, he never waiverd from his belief that he could be something in the NFL. Today James Harrison is going to his 2nd straight Pro Bowl, named the Steelers MVP by his own team for the second straight year, and on Monday, he was named the NFL’s 1st Undrafted Defensive Player of the Year.
And some will still ask…What are the odds?
There are obsitles in everything we do in life. There are times when they appear to be outside forces that are insurmountable and other times when they, quite frankly are nothing more than self imposed. (Which Harisson readily admits in this New York Times Article.) The only thing really stopping you (or anyone for that matter) is a mear 7 inches that fit oddly enough between your own ears.
The next time someone tells you about odds, and you have a dream, a desire to dare something worthy, think about this too small, too slow, undrafted, and unwanted Linebacker who defied the odds and not only made it in the NFL, but made it in a big way.
For you, it might be time to stop hiding out, and start stepping outside the comfort of being “average” and start acting like an MVP. It’s the only way you can be in the right place at the right time, AND be the right person at the right time.
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Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
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On earth, as it is in Heinz Field.
Head coach MIKE TOMLIN of the Pittsburgh Steelers is the 2008 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year, Motorola and the NFL announced today.
Linebacker 
