With all the hyped and real charisma that can be mustered concerning a NFL Hall of Fame enshrinement, two of my favorites were inducted last week. Yes, some of the presentations were better than others but it may be that way based on which player was your favorite person to follow or scorn. You saw it all on TV. You were treated to the stories, the emotions, the commitments and sometimes the confessions that came forth. Almost to a person, each claimed that they were who was now standing in front of that elite group, family, friends and invited quests due to the hardships they experienced and overcame along the way.
Here are some of the statements from Deion Sanders:
“I made a pledge to myself. I don’t care what it takes. I’m not going to do anything illegal. But my mama is never going to have to work another day of her life someday.”
“When you told me what I couldn’t do; when you told me what I didn’t do; when you told me what I’d never be, I saw …”
There were equally compelling statements by Shannon Sharp and sometimes even poetic descriptions of living in poverty in a leaking cinderblock house in Glennville, Georgia, where his existence was hard, unforgiving and marginalized:
“I didn’t want my kids to live one hour in the life that I had, let alone a day. … [I] got them to a life they never would’ve enjoyed had it not been for that” [the costs to his family…]
No, there was going to be no country cooked raccoon, opossum, squirrel and turtle. He committed then and there that…
“I’m not gonna have to eat that when I become an adult.”
And he didn’t. He committed at an early age that his family would never have a reason to endure that level of despair and poverty. And they didn’t ever have to. Both these heroes of mine made millions and provided for mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, brothers and friends in ways that made certain those individuals would not have to do what he did… to experience the elevated status that both were now experiencing.
But the power of consequences of those commitments was lost on their self-congratulation and entitlement. I was hoping they heard their own voices but the lights were bright and those sitting there on folding chairs may not have sensed their missed opportunity, not of experiencing poverty but of commitment and dedication.
Each person in the audience that was provided for by these athletes would never know the thrill of victory or the despair from a loss. No one wants to have that poverty and no one wants their children or family to struggle against all odds.
They hadn’t been ‘robbed’ by being provided for but in most ways their chance at learning and achieving great success was ‘short-circuited’. There they were, Deion and Shannon, the pillars of self-reliance and perseverance having learned, struggled, and found success now entitling others to watch rather than start doing early and do what they did to succeed. Not necessarily football but anything…
Experiencing the consequences of commitment, focus and dedication is what the Hall of Fame members in all sports share. Deion got the closest to describing the formula for his success by providing the components for “Prime.” But, the $1500 plane ride to hear someone talk about how they prevailed is transitory and is known to induce a stupor similar to that of being stoned.
It was how Deion and Shannon handled the consequences of their struggles, their focus and their perseverance that got them there and nothing else. It is what they did… It would have been nice to know both understood that and to hear them say it loud so the fans that idolize them could hear it clearly that nothing is free and everything each of us values comes with a price. Maybe next year.
