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2/10/2007 They were born 52 days apart in 1976, and to a degree they will forever be linked. When Peyton Manning (Tennessee) and Ryan Leaf (Washington State) were both drafted in the 1st round back in 1998 by the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers respectively, there were debates on who would achieve greater stardom. However, last Sunday, while Peyton Manning was leading his team to a Super Bowl Championship, washed-up Ryan Leaf was turning over a new leaf as he was preparing for his new job as Quarterbacks coach at tiny West Texas A&M university. Ironically, 65% of the ‘experts’ predicted that it would be Leaf, not Manning that would have the more productive NFL career. The reasons why are not complicated but they are important lessons for any athlete to learn, particularly the successful HS athlete that has a college opportunity waiting for them. “I was totally unprepared for the next level,” Leaf admitted. It wasn’t talent or physical ability, not at all. It wasn’t intelligence or aptitude either. Once Leaf signed his contract, he simply didn’t realize that his work was just beginning. His work ethic and work habits were poor, and he was never willing to go the extra mile. He was hard to coach, he was moody, and didn’t take well to constructive criticism. His attitude became surly and his negativity rubbed off on teammates and the media. He figured he had it made, after all, that behavior had been enabled his entire life. Today however, Leaf is teaching kids to do the opposite of what he did. This is a classic case of learning from others mistakes. Leaf will never win a Super Bowl, but he has a chance to do something potentially greater. That is to save the cocky, self-assured athlete from their own potentially self-destructive behavior. National Signing Day took place last week and many Novi athletes took the first major step in realizing a dream that less than 3% of all HS athletes enjoy; the opportunity to compete at the next level. It is a privilege, it is an honor, and most of you won’t enjoy it as much as you should. You will have to work harder than ever, and when you join your new team, everyone around you will have been a star somewhere else. As such, you’ll have to compete for your job, it won’t be handed to you. Your mommy isn’t around anymore, and D1 Coaches have a different philosophy than high school coaches. They re-evaluate a lot, and there are no guarantees. In other words, your work is just beginning. You don’t have enough talent to succeed on talent alone. You’re going to have to work even harder for it. Or, you’ll be turning over a new leaf… (c) 2007 Novi
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