My 15 years on the field as an NFL official have provided a different perspective on this game which now attracts world-wide interest. I was fortunate to officiate two Super Bowls, VI and XII. I remember those two games, and this most recent one, not only for the excitement and pageantry, but also metaphorically for the lessons that football provides for our lives in this nation and around the world.
Baltimore dominated the game from the opening kickoff until the early 3rd quarter. With the score, 28 to 6 in Baltimore’s favor, many thought, “this game is over.” This is an easy and comfortable attitude to embrace, in football or in the business and professional world, but, it can prove to be fatal. Then, the lights went out!
After the lights came on again, the 49’ers came roaring back and came within one play of winning the Super Bowl. A football team or a business must be committed to giving maximum effort on every play, or with every customer or client. In addition, the coaches are always re-inventing their offenses and defenses after scouting the other team. Flexibility, not rigidity, is one of forces that fire the “engine” of a champion on the football field, in the factory or in the office.
President Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
You saw this on both sides of the ball and on both teams as Super Bowl XLVII played out. The 49ers played full throttle in spite of being far behind and came back to be only four points behind with less than a minute to play, and had the ball inside the Baltimore ten yard line. Then the Ravens turned it up a notch or two on defense as the game came down to that thrilling finish.
The lesson here is that discipline, the will to do it right and give ALL of one’s talent, ALL of one’s knowledge and ALL of one’s effort on every play, or with every customer or client will be the measure of our success in playing football in the NFL, officiating football in the NFL, (or at any level) and in whatever we do in life. Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers said it best. He said, “I want 40 men who will give 100% of their knowledge, talent and effort on every play in every game”.
Success in life is not a destination, it is a journey. Sometimes it is smooth and there are times when the journey gets rough, but as Don Shula, the Hall of Fame coach of the Baltimore Colts and the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins so wisely said, “Success is not forever and failure is not fatal”.
Art Holst is a motivational speaker and legend in the speaking industry. His broad background provides the foundation for his messages spiced with inspiration, humor, and poetry. To learn more about Art go to https://www.speakersoffice.com/art_holst.asp or www.artholst.com.
