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Who You Become Is Not Their Decision

There’s a lesson to be learned from the NFL Draft. We spend months projecting out picks. Where a player gets drafted is fully dependent on the opinions of 32 small groups of middle aged men. They sit in an office assigning a dollar amount to a man’s worth. They’re paid insane amounts of money to do so, yet they’re frequently wrong. Some of the biggest draft busts in NFL history include, JaMarcus Russell (No. 1 overall), Ryan Leaf (No. 2 overall), Charles Rogers (No. 2 overall), Justin Blackmon (No. 5 overall), and Zach Wilson (No. 2 overall). These players all had incredible physical ability, yet lacked the intangibles needed to succeed. Their mistakes aren’t limited to the players they draft, but the ones they pass on as well. Some of the best players that fell in the draft include, Tom Brady (No. 199), Shannon Sharpe (No. 192), Richard Sherman (No. 154), Antonio Brown (No. 195), Geno Atkins (No. 120), Jason Kelce (No. 191), and George Kittle (No. 146). These players all had gaps in t...
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You Do Not Rise to the Moment, You Rise to Your Preparation

Most breakthroughs begin long before anyone notices. They start in quiet rooms, early mornings, and late nights. They grow in the moments when nobody claps, nobody evaluates, and nobody sees the effort except you. People love the idea of being ready when their big moment arrives. The truth is far more demanding. You do not rise to a moment. You rise to the level of your preparation long before the moment arrives. Pressure does not create who you are. Pressure reveals who you already built yourself to be. Some individuals wait for opportunity. Champions train for it. They do not train loudly or for attention. They train because they refuse to be caught unprepared. --- The Space Between Effort and Reward We often believe effort guarantees recognition. Put in the work and results will follow on our schedule. Reality rarely works like that. There are seasons when effort feels invisible, when progress hides, and when forward movement seems frozen. That space between effort and reward is whe...
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The Truth About Faith I Missed for 20 Years

As a child growing up my faith was shaped purely by what I was told. I lacked the patience and maturity to read and understand the Bible for myself. My understanding growing up was simply that the death of Jesus allowed us to be forgiven for our sins. That if you asked God to forgive you, that    you would go to heaven. It’s funny to look back at how simple my belief was, it honestly had little to no foundation. I didn’t have a relationship with God what I had was a way to cope with choices I’d made.    I had a way to live the way I wanted, without consequences. Today I have intense emotional conversations with God through prayer.    When I’m happy I express gratitude.    When I’m angry, sad, or frustrated, I don’t question the situation, but I seek the reason. I ask what he’s teaching me in this moment, where he’s leading me in this situation.    So it’s funny to think that for about 20 years of my life, most of my prayers consisted of ...
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If—: The Blueprint for Becoming Unshakable

I talk a lot about culture. About standards. About what it means to grow into the kind of teammate, leader, and person others can depend on.  Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem over a century ago called  “If—.”  It might be old, but every line still describes what elite culture looks like today — not just in sports, but in life. Joe Paterno used to reference it often, in fact it was on the pamphlet at his funeral.    After recent set backs, interim head coach Terry Smith has brought it back to life in Penn State football. The team was wearing shirts with a huge IF on the front as they entered the stadium to play Iowa. When I read this poem, I see the DNA of every great team ever established: calm under pressure, confident yet humble, patient through struggle, and relentless when things get hard.         If— by Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men...
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