Dedication, dammit!

Good day, all.

A few things I want to say about dedication. Take a look at this inspiring story of Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins. True Dedication

He didn't let something as mundane as his child being born keep him from his dedication to the team. He's an example of the kind of commitment it takes to rise to the upper-kinda-middle of the pack!

I'm reminded of my experience of when my own wife, Constance, was undergoing complicated surgery after a automobile accident (her fault, but, that's irrelevant).

Her surgery was scheduled at 9am, during our regular coaches meeting, so, I rescheduled the surgery for 10am. Turns out, our meeting went long and I had my assistant, April, call the hospital to push the surgery another hour. The hospital flat-out refused!!

I was forced to conduct the remainder of the coaches meeting from my car. If any of you have ever tried to hold a call with assistants and coordinators while operating your over-sized SUV, you know what I'm talking about. Not easy! Especially with a full coffee and donut in-hand!

When I got to the hospital, I used the time Constance was in surgery and, subsequent, recovery to game plan, make phone calls and prepare notes for our evening team meeting and practice.

Due to the surgery taking longer than anticipated (thanks, again, Doc!), I was forced to let my lead assistant run practice for the first ten minutes....and anyone who knows coaching, knows how critical those first ten minutes of practice are! I missed the entire 'milling around' period where I get to feel the 'vibe' of the team. By the time I got there, I felt like I'd missed a week!

Needless to say, the next game, we lost by two touchdowns.
But, hey, I didn't blame Constance for the loss.

That said, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd just been a little more dedicated that week, we might've won.

My team's motto is D-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
"D" is for determination
"E" is for Elite
"D" is for determination
"I" is for No 'I' in 'team'
"C" is for Commitment
"A" is for Action!
"T" is for Tenacity
"I" is for Intensity
"O" is for Oh! Yeah!
"N" is for "Not Gonna Let up"

It's what we do. It's how we are. Football!

Coach