Archive for the ‘Colt McCoy’ Category

How Do You Think Aaron Rodgers REALLY Feels?

Monday, January 11th, 2010

After all Aaron Rodgers had to endure, none of which was of his doing, he comes out in his first playoff game and puts up numbers a Hall-of-Fame quarterback would hope for.  Yet, his team loses.  

It’s a bummer, sure, but because his team is the legendary Green Bay Packers, the only community-owned NFL franchise, and the quarterback he replaced is the just as legendary Brett Favre (whose new team just happens to be the hated Minnesota Vikings), and the Vikings are still alive in the NFL playoffs, his emotions must skyrocketing.  What’s a guy to do?

For those who’ve never been part of a team (especially one competing at a high level), it’s easy to rationalize what Rodgers is going through.  He did as close to his best (anyone whose career has lasted over 30 minutes has made some mistakes) as he could.  The numbers speak for themselves so he should have nothing to be ashamed about.  Except for one thing.  The dreaded bottom line in team sports: did your club win?

If the answer’s no, it seems as though nothing else matters.  Those who are Rodgers’ fans (and that group should certainly have grown exponentially in witnesses after his  performance yesterday) will walk with their heads held high.  His detractors, though, will point to two areas, one a fact, the other, . . . we’ll never know.  The fact is, naturally, that the Pack lost - and, to fans, nothing else matters (except maybe in the NY-NJ area because whether you “covered” eases the pain somewhat).  The other, which in this group’s mind, he’ll never live down (at least until he leads the Green & Gold to, oh yeah, something called the Lombardi Trophy), is that if Brett were at QB, we’d have won today (”today,” meaning any day the Packers have a game - even though the stats don’t bear that out).  But “he would have led us to a score in OT” and “no way would he have let any defensive lineman strip him of the ball.”  It’s almost like the “h” in he is capitalized.

Unfair?  Hey, in sports - or life - what’s fair?  Ask Colt McCoy.  Or Wes Welker.  Or Bobby Hurley.  Or Muhammed Ali.  Or Wally Pipp.  Or Lou Gehrig.  Or Pat Tillman. 

Aaron Rodgers plays a game for a living.  For a lot of money.  He gave it his all, “left nothing on the field” as they say.  But, because his team, and as quarterback, make no mistake about it, it’s his team, I would imagine, as a true pro, he’s disappointed.  Yet he lives to play another day.  It just won’t be until next season.

Aaron Rodgers should take heed from another (to whom life was anything but fair), the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said:

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

He’ll get over it.Â

Posted in NFL playoffs, Aaron Rodgers, criticism, Muhammad Ali, Lou Gehrig, Colt McCoy, responsibility, wealth, pressure, dealing with adversity, football, humor, fans, leadership, Brett Favre, accountability, current fads | No Comments »

Like Life, Sports Can Be Awfully Cruel

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Colt McCoy has a National Championship ring (UT over SC, his freshman year), but he refuses to wear it.  “I didn’t win it,” said the Longhorns’ QB prior to the title game with Alabama.  The tone of his voice was such that he intended on getting another one - that he would wear.

Instead, just as the game began, he got leveled - and knew immediately, he was through for the night.  When you’re a right-handed quarterback and you can’t feel your right arm, that’s a hint-and-a-half that there’s something wrong.  He’s, as they say in that part of the country, “Texas tough,” which probably means if it were his left arm he couldn’t feel, he’d have given it a go, but playing one-handed - with your weaker hand - against the #1 team in the nation - well, sometimes a man just has to throw in the rope.

Coincidentally enough, on my way into work this morning, I was talking to my good friend, Peter Sharkey, long-time basketball coach at Hoover (Fresno) HS (in fact, he was recently inducted - and quite deservedly so - into the HHS Hall-of-Fame) and the name of a guy he played against in high school came up - Ernie DeGregorio.  We each remarked how crushing it was for Ernie (if you remember Ernie D, you’re probably very old and a true fan of college hoops) that he had such a wonderful career, but when his team, the Providence Friars, finally reached the promised land, i.e. the Final Four, he got hurt and couldn’t play.

His team, as McCoy’s, was denied the services of their best player (granted, UT has many other great players, as Providence did with Marvin Barnes) and, thus a chance to win the a National Championship although, also like McCoy, had he played, his team probably wouldn’t have won it anyway.  Just as Mark Ingram stood in Colt’s way, Bill Walton and his UCLA Bruins weren’t about to let anybody other than themselves take home the trophy.

Life can be great, and for Colt McCoy, he’s had a pretty good one so far, but as we all do, he learned first-hand what Colin Powell said about success:

“You can’t slay the dragon everyday.  Some days, the dragon wins.”

Posted in Colin Powell, Colt McCoy, Final Four, attitude, dealing with adversity, leadership, football | No Comments »