Contagious Focus

My tiny high school had twenty-seven boys—farm boys—on the football team.

There had never been a pro athlete from that high school before I got there, and never one since I left. Not one.

Based on the statistics I just showed you of high school players turning pro, how many of those twenty-seven farm boys on my team do you suppose went on to play in the NFL?

Answer: Four.

Four of us played in the NFL for a total of twenty-five years, with two Super Bowl appearances.

That’s a statistical impossibility. That can’t happen. Especially given that there’s never been a history at the school for pro athletes of any kind.

So how do you explain it? Coincidence? Something in the water? Sheer dumb luck?

I’m convinced it’s none of those things.

It’s the power of having someone around who was so focused on his dream and his plan that maybe he inspired other boys to go along with him.

Source: There's No Plan B for Your A-Game by Bo Eason