UPDATE: Don’t know why I should be surprised that everyone else is looking for this poem as well. (More than likely wanting to read it and possibly copy it for themselves.) Want your own copy of the poem “Don’t Quit”? I created a PDF that you can print out and hang where you want. Mine is on the bathroom mirror.

Enjoy!

~~~~

The NFL Network has aired the newest release of it’s Emmy Award-winning ‘America’s Game’ with “The Story of the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers”. You know me, I not only had to watch it, but it’s permanently saved on my TiVo to watch for years to come.

Each episode of America’s Game is a personal portrait told by the men who lived it and felt it. The story of the 2008 Steelers is told through the eyes of head coach Mike Tomlin, Troy Polamalu and Ben Roethlisberger.

I love the heart and the mentality of a champion and believe there is something we can not only learn but implement in our own lives to help us achieve our goals and dreams.

I wish I had a video of this one segment I could share with you, but it’s simply not available anywhere on the internet just yet. Instead I’ll have to share it with you in print.

Roethlisberger developed his resiliency on the field as a quarterback at Miami University under then-head coach Terry Hoeppner. Coach Hep, who died of brain cancer in 2007, remained a main source of inspiration for Roethlisberger through his favorite poem, “Don’t Quit.”

Roethlisberger on Coach Hep: “He just was an amazing person. More than a coach, I really was like a son to him.”

Roethlisberger on the poem, “Don’t Quit”: “[Coach Hep] would read it to us once or twice a year. He would get really into it and emotional about it. It was really something special, especially when he passed, so I put the poem up in my locker so that every day I could see it and know that no matter what, don’t give up, don’t quit.”

Just the title alone prompted me to do a quick search for this poem and found it so meaningful and inspiring, I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

“Don’t Quit”

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit;
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

~ Anonymous

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It’s the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs this weekend and I’m going to be in hog heaven. Like last weekend, we have two days of Professional Football.

At one time, my wife seemed to think it was nothing more than an excuse for me to be a “Couch Potato”. Blasphemy! She now understands, (okay “accepts”) my love of this game, especially when my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers are playing.

Baltimore (11-5) at Tennessee (13-3)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET

Arizona (9-7) at Carolina (12-4)
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET

Philadelphia (9-6-1) at New York Giants (12-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

San Diego (8-8) at Pittsburgh (12-4)
Sunday, 4:45 p.m. ET

In honor of this weekend, I bring you David Letterman’s Top 10, with one small change. (See if you can pick it out.)

Top Ten Signs You Are Watching Too Much Football

			Only fresh air you’ve had this month is opening door for pizza guy
			You refer to orange juice as Fedex orange juice
			When wife finishes making dinner, you dump jug of Gatorade on her
			You schedule an appointment to talk to your doctor about Andy Reid’s cholesterol
			Got a telestrator in the bedroom
			Three words: Big Ben tattoo
			Fantasize about Gisele Bundchen falling in love with you and introducing you to Tom Brady
			When you go to McDonald’s you insist on ordering the McNabb
			Laura has to keep reminding you you’re still President for two more weeks
			To be more like your favorite New York Giant, you shoot yourself in the leg

Go Steelers!

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January 12^th, 1975. I don’t remember many dates from my childhood, but I remember that one. I was 10 years old at the time, growing up in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, Pa. The center of my world revolved around a place that I had never even heard of before, and a Championship game that consumed my day. What was supposed to be the first Super Bowl to be played indoors was instead played at Tulane stadium, because the Super Dome was not yet complete for Super Bowl IX.

36 years later that team remains the only NFL team to win four Super Bowls in six years, yet what might separate the Steel Curtain Steelers of the 1970s from other NFL champions is what they did off the football field. Lynn Swann is running for governor of Pennsylvania. John Stallworth founded an aerospace company in his native Alabama that employs hundreds. Franco Harris launched a successful bakery and is one of the most visible NFL players from the 1970s, making numerous public appearances. Jack Ham runs his own company in Pittsburgh and is a color analyst for NFL games on Westwood One radio and for Penn State’s vast radio network. Dwayne Woodruff must be called “Your Honor.” A successful Pittsburgh attorney, he was elected an Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judge last year. Mel Blount, runs a youth home for disadvantaged youngsters in Canonsburg, Pa. Tony Dungy, obviously is the Head Coach for the Indianapolis Colts. And of course, Terry Bradshaw might be the most recognizable TV studio host in NFL history. And I knew them when!

All these players have moved on. I’ve since moved away from Pittsburgh, and have resided in Atlanta the last 14 years. You can take the boy out of the city, but you can never take the Steelers out of the boy. I love football, but more importantly, Steelers football. I still never miss a game because of a wonderful product called TiVo, but watch the vast majority of the games live thanks to NFL Sunday Ticket. My daughter watched her first football game with me only days old in Piedmont Hospital for a Monday Night Football game against the Tennessee Titians.

I took a look at the series of draft picks that built the Dynasty of 70’s. 1969: Joe Greene, DT, North Texas St. 1970: Terry Bradshaw, QB, Louisiana Tech 1971: Frank Lewis, WR, Grambling 1972: Franco Harris, RB, Penn St. 1973: J.T. Thomas, DB, Florida St. and 1974: Lynn Swann, WR, Southern Cal. Now let’s take a look at some of the last few years that built the team that made Super Bowl XL: 2001: Casey Hampton, DT, Texas 2002: Kendall Simmons, OG, Auburn 2003: Troy Polamalu, SS, USC 2004: Ben Roethlisberger, QB Miami (Ohio) and 2005: Heath Miller, TE, Virginia. That’s some key drafts that between 2001 and 2005 that could arguably be the best since 1969 through 1974.

I don’t know about another run of 4 Super Bowls in 6 years for this team. I do like our odds in this Super Bowl, and I enjoy dreaming about what this team could be in the next few years. With free agency, it will most certainly be more difficult to keep this team in tact. However, the Steelers have been the model of consistency year in and year out for as long as I can remember. I’ve only known two Head Coaches in the long history of following the Steelers. I was 5 when they hired Chuck Noel in 1969. Since Bill Cowher has was hired 14 years ago, there have been 95 Head Coaching changes in the NFL.

I’ll close this weeks entry with a Prayer for Super Bowl XL.

Our Father, who is Art Rooney in Heaven, football be thy game.
Thy kingdom come, 4 Super Bowls won, on earth as it is at Heinz Field.
Give us this day our playoff victory, and forgive us our penalties,

As we defeat those who play against us.
Lead us to a playoff victory, and deliver us to Detroit.
A-Ben

Go Steelers!

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John Madden was in Atlanta to announce a football game one weekend when he noticed a special telephone near the Falcon’s bench. He asked Jim Mora what it was for and was told that it was the hotline to God. John asked if he could use it. Jim told him “Sure, but it will cost you $100.” Madden scratched his head, then thought, what the heck. I need a break picking the games. He pulled out his wallet and paid the $100. Madden was perfect that week.

The next week Madden was in Florida when he noticed the same kind of telephone on the Miami bench. He asked Nick Saban what the telephone was for and was told “It’s the hotline to God. If you want to use it, it’ll cost you $100.” Recalling the previous week, Madden pulled out his wallet and made the call. Madden was perfect that week.

The next weekend Madden was in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, when he noticed the same kind of telephone by the Steelers bench. He asked Coach Bill Cowher, “Is that telephone the hotline to God?” Bill said “Yes and if you want to use it, it’ll cost 35 cents.” Madden looked incredulously at Bill and said, ” Wait a second, I just paid $100 at Atlanta and $100 at Miami to use the same telephone to God. Why does Pittsburgh only charge 35 cents?”

Bill looked at Madden and replied, “In Pittsburgh, it’s a local call.”

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Question: How many Steelers Fans does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Five (One to actually change the bulb and four to reminisce about the old one.)

This joke was originally told by an Associate Minister at a church I was a member of some years back, but he was a Green Bay Packers fan. I liked it so much; I stole it and simply change the name of the team. As I write this weeks Blog, I am watching NFL Films and a review of the Pittsburgh Steelers 1972 season that my TiVo automatically picked up and recorded for me. It’s been 25 years since Pittsburgh won their last World Championship and 10 years since they last reached the Super Bowl. So this joke has special meaning to me as a fan of this special team I grew up watching and rooting for. I too like to reminisce about Bradshaw, Harris, Lambert, Green, Ham, Swann, and Stalworth

It’s the end of the regular NFL season and this weekend, we start yet another journey into the NFL Playoffs. Topping the news in the NFL this week is all the Head Coaching changes going on. There have been no less than 8 firings so far this week in the league, with the rumor mill spinning round and round about other changes to be made by other teams. Since my earliest recollection of my Pittsburgh Steelers, I only know of two Head Coaches for my Steelers. (Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher) I can name more home stadiums than I can coaches for my team. (Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium, and Heinz Field)

I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous seasons with my beloved Steelers in this month of heart beating, palm sweating, carpet pacing second seasons. Win and go on to the next weekend…loose, and go home. My wife knows she’s a Football Widow for most of the season, and after 9 seasons together, she also knows that this is the most intense month of the entire year. My children are still a little too young to realize just how important this month is to their Daddy. Make no mistake; they know which team Daddy roots for. My daughter watched her first game with me while still in the hospital after being born for a Monday Night Football match up between Tennessee and Pittsburgh. She knew instantly what this game, and this team means to her Daddy. I, in my Kordell Stewart jersey, and her in a Steelers logo jumper, as we kept the entire delivery ward up till the wee hours of the night. Now that I think back to our first night together of watching football, I wonder if some of the nursing staff had concerns of me attempting to “spike” my daughter. In all honesty, my daughter has special meaning to me. It was because of her that my wife allowed me to get DirecTV along with the NFL Sunday Ticket Package. Because of her, I now don’t have to leave home to watch any game I want all day Sunday afternoons.

My son arrived two years later at the beginning of July, just in time to make training camp at the end of the month in Latrobe. He was a few week pre-mature and only 5 pounds 8 ounces when he arrived, but we worked hard to get him up the playing weight before camp opened. He’s my linebacker and let me tell you, he’s the perfect mold for a Steelers Linebacker. Quick and very light on his feet, and I know, I’ve had to chase him a few times! My proudest day was a when he was drafted last year at the last minute. I still have the Press Release saved that was sent out from the Front Office. Both my children’s first words weren’t Mommy or Daddy…it was “Touchdown!”

Pittsburgh heads to Cincinnati this weekend where we rightfully take back our AFC North crown that was handed to the Bengals in week 13. Make no mistake Cincinnati, we still own this division. A win in Cincinnati sends us to Indianapolis, for a rematch of another Monday Night game earlier in the year. I didn’t talk to one of my best team members for a week after that game earlier in the season, and it looks like heads will roll once again.

No matter what happens this year, Pittsburgh will be traveling “On the Road to the Super Bowl” this year, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in my eyes. We have stayed home no less than 5 times over the last 14 years and made it to the Big Game only once. (I’ll remind that same team member that one game was against Indianapolis.)

Here’s to the NFL Playoffs. A month of great anticipation and excitement only to go through withdrawal until April and the NFL draft.

Let’s hope this will be the year of “One for the Thumb!”

Go Steelers!

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