| As head football coach of the then World Champion Dallas Cowboys, Tom Landry made many decisions concerning "America's Team." The Cowboys reached the playoffs year after year, not only because of their innovation, coaching, but also because of the quality of their athletic personnel. When it came to drafting rookies, signing free agents, and forming the team, character qualities of the individual team members was a key element for success according to Coach Landry.
"You know, for the Cowboy's, when we draft men for our team, we look for five things, and the first is character," noted Landry.
When asked, "What if you find a terrific athlete who lacks character?"
Landry's responded, "That's easy. We don't draft him. I have noticed that there's never been an exception. When any one of our men gets involved with drugs, their character leaves. They are finished. It's just a matter of time."
For NFL Hall of Fame coach, Tom Landry, character was the most important component that each athlete must possess to play for the Dallas Cowboys to be successful. Character was the number one thing he looked for in his athletes. Why?
"Character is the most important determinant of a person's success, achievement and ability to handle adversity," noted Coach Landry.
Athletic Principle
"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, those who cheer today will curse tomorrow; only character endures."- Horace Greeley
We hear so many people talk about character and its importance, so actually what is it? Character is defined as "the aggregate (the rock) of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person... moral or ethical qualities... qualities of honesty... courage... integrity... reputation. A person once said that, "Character is what we are when nobody is looking."
Branch Rickey, the owner and manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers once said, "I always looked for what I called the 'red thread' of discipline, confidence, courage, and commitment in a man's life. I look for it in every rookie."
If we were to poll coaches and ask them about what character qualities would be necessary for athletes to be successful, we would most likely hear response like this:
- Reliable
- Determination
- Committed
- Concentration
- Trustworthy
- Perseverance
- Self-Sacrificing
- Self-Controlled
- Disciplined
- Confident
- Dedication
- Team Player
If an athlete had these qualities, most coaches would jump for joy, for they would have the makings of a champion. Too many athletic careers are lost because of a lack of character. Pride gets in the way, short cuts are taken, compromise is made, and discipline disappears. Character is lost and a downward spiral begins that tragically short-circuits the potential that was once there.
"How a man plays a game shows something of his character, how he loses shows it all." - Unknown
A long list of athletes could be mentioned here who threw away great athletic potential because of a lack of character. Drugs, gambling, alcohol, poor choices in friends all can cost an athlete to fall from greatness. Read the current sport pages and see for yourself... drunk driving, sexual assaults, gambling debts, and even murder... it is happening today in sports by athletes who lack character!
Life Principles
"You should care more about your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are. Your reputation is only what people think about you." - John Wooden
Daryl Strawberry had a gift for playing baseball. A Los Angles native with a ripped 6'6" physique and a sweet swing that kept pitchers up at night, Strawberry was the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year, and he helped lead the New York Mets to a World Series title in 1986. Strawberry was on track to a Hall of Fame career, but along the way Strawberry developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
The addiction grew out of control, and Daryl Strawberry was suspended from Major League Baseball. Not only did Strawberry find himself being arrested, but he also had to deal with treatment, counseling, probation, and finally jail.
Daryl Strawberry's life and baseball career took a downward spiral. Somehow the opportunity to use his gift of baseball wasn't important to Daryl. Over time, his poor decisions, hanging with the wrong group of friends, allowed what would have been a record-breaking career to die.
Daryl really made some poor decisions. But, many of us also make similar decisions without realizing it. It is really easy to waste an amazing gift. The gift of athletic ability. The gift of academic ability. The gift of friends. The gift of speed, or strength, or whatever God has blessed you with. These gifts may not sound that dramatic, but one day at a time, making the wrong decisions, you can find these gifts—these God intended blessings to be gone.
We all have done it. We make one little decision to sleep in late, to blow off a practice or a workout, to have a few beers, to eat one more piece of pizza - then suddenly we realize that we are not in the place we were once before. Each poor decision has taken us closer to the valley, rather than to the summit where we desire to be. Each poor decision snowballs into bigger mistakes. Soon we find out life, our life is out of control in a downward turn, lost without any viewable able character.
It is so easy to take an amazing gift and waste it.
It is said that life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends upon what you are made of. What are you made of? Take a good close look. Do some critical evaluations on the decisions you make, and the people and friends who influence you. Be determined to be a person of character!
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