WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

“There’s no Elevator to Success! You have to take the Stairs!” – Unnamed Author

Greetings! With all eyes on the Super Bowl this weekend, I wanted to bring to light the career transformation of San Francisco 49ers all-pro tight end Vernon Davis.  Someone I am watching closely.

He was a Top Six pick back in the 2006 NFL Draft. A supreme talent! He had offensive skills that knew of no boundaries. He was featured in much of the 49ers offensive play calling although this is where the story begins as team victories and team success were not achieved at all during his first five seasons. His reputation was that of a player better known for scuffling with his own teammates and for displaying a diva-like, ‘me-first’ attitude.

Today he is a changed player even though he still is a youthful 27 years of age (and into his prime years). Yet, despite the 49ers amazing turnaround under coach Jim Harbaugh (who preaches a team-first game), Davis has seen his offensive role change in dramatic fashion just as victories began to pile up. As an example, after averaging 67 catches per season over the previous three years, Davis caught just 41 passes in 2012. The fans and media were waiting for a verbal explosion from the tight end. “Yes, I probably would have been in the media making a scene, going to the coach and just being a cancer to the team if this had happened back in my earlier days," he said.

Even with lower statistical numbers, Davis is considered a much better all-round player now. He’s seen as a more valuable teammate for his ability to block on running plays, as a pass protector to give his quarterback valued seconds to pick out a receiver, and of course, he’s still a powerful locomotive out in the open field when given the football. It was Davis’ 100-plus catching yards and a TD pass he snared that helped spark the Niners to their amazing come-from-behind win against Atlanta a week ago that advanced the team to New Orleans and an opportunity at winning the Super Bowl!  As a matter of fact, Davis has gone over 100 receiving yards with at least one touchdown in three of the last four San Francisco playoff games under Harbaugh.

"I just had to realize that the team was bigger than me," Davis now says. "It wasn't just about me. This is not a one-man game. And as far as making me realize those things, we had (former)  Coach (Mike) Singletary here to point 'em out to me, and he stayed on me – man, he was always on me. He was like, ‘Vernon, you won't take off, you won't succeed until you put the team first.' I grew. I'm very thankful for that. I thank God for that.”

When the former Chicago Bears’ legend and Hall of Fame middle linebacker was hired to coach the 49ers in 2008, he singled out Davis for his selfishness, and publicly berated and stripped the player of his uniform right in front of the entire sports nation during his very first game on the San Francisco sidelines. 

Then came the infamous post-game SPEECH with each word directed back at Davis when Singletary said: “I will not tolerate players who think it’s about them when it’s about the team. Cannot win with them, cannot coach with them, can’t do it. I would rather play with ten people and just get penalized all the way until we gotta do something else rather than play with 11 when right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team.”

When reflecting back on those early days of his career, Davis once again says: “I realized that I needed to do whatever I could to help this team, whether it’s blocking, pass protection, whatever it is.  I’m going to make sure I’m there.”  It wouldn’t surprise me that Vernon Davis becomes the X-factor in this weekend’s Super Bowl and that he takes home the MVP Trophy! I will be watching to see!

Fellas, in sports, in the workplace, in marriage and in life, success will always come to the individual’s that realize the word ME cannot exist on its own. This simple two letter word can make your whole existence much more meaningful when you discover that by turning the LETTER “M” upside down, it will read “WE!”

All the best!

Jim Loria

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“Don't go through life, grow through life” – stated by Eric Butterworth, New York City Minister

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“In every adversity there is a seed of equivalent benefit” – stated by Pat Riley, President of the NBA’s Miami Heat

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“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility… in the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have… is the ability to take on responsibility” – stated by Michael Korda, Writer and Novelist

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“There is a lesson in almost everything that you do, and getting the lesson is how you move forward” – stated by Oprah Winfrey

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“Think of a Team as a Train and its star player as the locomotive. There is much more to a train than just that engine. If any part of a train fails, if just one nut or bolt gives away, the whole chain of cars can derail” – stated by John Wooden, legendary college basketball coach

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“If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know” – stated by Thomas Wolfe, Novelist

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“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. The tests of life are not meant to break you, but to make you” – stated by Norman Vincent Peale, Minister and Author (‘The Power of Positive Thinking’)

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Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com

WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

“In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They are going to find you anyway” – stated  by Bear Bryant, the legendary Alabama college football coach

Greetings!

If there ever was an example on why you want to keep your off-field activities in check, look no further than the saga of Manti Te’o. I’ve been watching this whole bizarre episode unravel (with the ‘imaginary girlfriend’) and waiting to see how the NFL will handle his case in the coming months as he is draft eligible. He was a player so revered for his devotion to the Notre Dame community and for inspiring his teammates to a regular season unbeaten record and a first place finish in the BCS Polls.

 

In the last two weeks, the Te’o story took on layers and extra layers of tabloid gossip. Combined with Lance Armstrong’s guilt admissions from the Oprah Winfrey sit down interview, Te’o actually kept the NFL juggernaut off the front pages and sports talk radio for pretty much an entire week leading up to their conference championship games!

 

Te’o became a headliner for all the wrong reasons. His private life became a national conversation! The social media site DEADSPIN first broke the story and in just a matter of minutes, over 2.1 MILLION VISITORS dialed into their computers to read the story! Only Brett Favre’s scandal with the New York Jets a few years ago drew a higher number!

During the course of last week, Te’o became the “joke” on all night time comedy shows! David Letterman, as an example, featured a “TOP 10 SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE AN IMAGINARY GIRLFRIEND” that drew a lot of laughs and a million more eyeballs through television and You Tube audiences.  Jimmy Kimmel spent one of his monologue’s chatting up Te’o and said: “Some people play Fantasy Football … Manti plays Fantasy People!”  Jay Leno of the Tonight Show poked fun at Te’o and developed a funny skit that retraced the entire saga from start-to-finish.

Before the Alabama championship game, there were some NFL lists that had Te’o placed near the top of the draft.  My hunch is that Te’o will free-fall somewhat towards the bottom of the first round – which will cost him millions in football salary.  Same for his off-field portfolio if he would have remained stain free? It was expected that Te’o would have been in such high demand for Corporate America and become one of the most sought after professional athlete endorsers  … and now he may never be able to escape the embarrassing hailstorm that rained down on him.

In my era growing up, professional athletes like Stan Musial were left alone. You only heard of their troubles through a newspaper article that took a day later to read up on the problem.  Today, media and the general public have access to your personal life 24/7/365. Just be careful of the company you keep, the choices you make and more so to protect your career earnings potential!

My best!

Jim Loria

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ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS QUOTE AS YOU DEVELOP YOUR PROFILE … “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal” – stated by Albert Pike

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“The most important quality I look for in a player is accountability. You’ve got to be accountable for who you are” – stated by Lenny Wilkins, Hall of Fame NBA Basketball Coach

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“What to do with a mistake: Recognize it, Admit it, Learn from it; Forget it” – stated by Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach at the University of North Carolina

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BEFORE YOU …

Before you speak, listen.

Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.

By: William Arthur Ward

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"Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny" - stated by Frank Outlaw

 

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Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com

WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

“We weren’t born to follow  … Come on and get up off your knees … This one’s about anyone who does it differently” - Bon Jovi Lyrics to the song “We Weren’t Born To Follow”

Greetings!

You could say these words were written for one Mr. Johnny Manziel. He being the 20-year-old record-setting quarterback at Texas A&M, who’s fame and popularity have reached the levels of a rock star!

To think, just two years ago college football recruiters had doubts about his size and abilities. ESPN ranked Manziel as the 39^th best high school QB prospect in the nation. Today he is must-watch television. No question, the face of college football and now he carries the distinction of being the first freshman in the 77-year history of the Heisman Trophy to win this prestigious award.

To show that his selection was no fluke, Manziel followed up the awards ceremony with a truly astonishing performance at the recently played Cotton Bowl. He led A&M to a lopsided 41-13 victory over Oklahoma while decimating the Sooners’ defense with 516 yards of total offense, including an unheard of 229 yards on the ground!

Records and performance aside, will Manziel be able to handle his new-found fame? After all, how many college freshmen have their likeness plastered on a billboard in the heart of New York’s Times Square? How many have a catchy moniker (“Johnny Football”) known to a nation of sports fans that has been trademarked?

Since winning the Heisman, Manziel has made the typical guest appearances on the Tonight Show and David Letterman. But it his recent activities - that are continually showing up online and in social media sites everywhere – that has Texas A&M school officials showing cause for concern. We’ve all seen Manziel sitting courtside at a Dallas Mavericks-Miami Heat game that even the NBA game announcers wondered how a college student could afford these expensive seats?  He was then seen fanning out big wads of cash apparently won at a casino along with another image of Manziel holding a half empty bottle of champagne from a New Year’s night celebration at a prominent Dallas, Texas night club (attended by his parents).

With so much backlash being tossed at Manziel’s doorstep of late, it was recently disclosed that Eric Hyman, the university athletic director, set up a private meeting with his parents on how to better deal with their son’s fame and the decisions he’s making. “I told them he’s no longer a freshman, and he’s no longer a sophomore, junior or senior. He is a ‘Heisman,’” said Hyman.

His coach at A&M (Kevin Sumlin) is doing his best to reel in Manziel and quietly reminds his prized QB that “you have to be able to lead yourself before you can lead a team, and in order to do that you have to have respect from your teammates.”

Manziel’s life will never be the same. That is obvious now. He is in a position to build on his football resume over the next two years that may make him one of the highest paid sports celebrity endorsers if he can keep his personal life “stain free” when he moves on to the pro ranks. The thing to always remember, fellas, is that it is the performance on the field that will dictate a player’s earning power; the company you keep and poor decisions away from it is what can destroy the opportunity … sometimes in a matter of seconds.

All the best my friend!

Jim Loria

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“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” – stated by legendary actor and comedian Bill Cosby

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“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself” – stated by Henry Ward Beecher, a clergyman in the 1800s

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“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example” – stated by Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister, 1874-1880

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“The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour” – Japanese Proverb

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“I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again” - stated by Etienne de Grellet, prominent French Quaker missionary in the early 1800s

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“Do something now that will make the person you'll be tomorrow proud to have been the person you are today” – stated by unknown author

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Jim Loria

E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com

WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

Greetings!

Watching Monday’s (July 7th) college football championship game, I came away with so much admiration for Alabama All-American center Barrett Jones. He played in the BCS Championship game with torn ligaments in his left foot – injured during the Tide’s SEC title game vs. Georgia a few weeks back - and wore a protective boot against Notre Dame to help cushion the ankle and soften the pain tolerance.

Knowing this and watching the Alabama lineman rise up from his crouch position on every single offensive play was truly a testament to one’s will that it can do anything when the mindset officially buys into the mission ahead 100%!

Picture how many times Jones (who stands in at 6’-5”) had to plant his feet on his 300-pound (plus) body with that much weight and stress hammering down on both ankles – and then having to use every ounce of inner strength coming off his ankles to get the utmost leverage over-and-over for 40-50 plays while grappling like a wrestler with one-to-two bull rushing defensive linemen coming at him that must equate to 650 pounds of human football flesh and you’re doing this with TORN LIGAMENTS? Yet, Jones and his O-line teammates put forth one of the most dominating performances ever seen in a football game and helped their team cruise to the national championship.

When I looked into Jones’ background, I was equally stunned to find out about the sacrifices he made for his college team by switching positions not once but three different times and how he dominated every single change! He went from starting 14 games at right guard as a freshman. Moved over to the left tackle position as a junior only to be chosen the “best offensive lineman” in the country and a unanimous spot on the All-American team.

As a senior in 2012 – and this his NFL Draft year – how many players would risk it all by switching to another new and foreign position? Jones did! He accepted the request from his coaches to move over to the middle of the line and anchor the center position. Arguably the hardest position to master on the offensive line. Jones had to adapt and learn on the go as to how to call out the proper blocking signals for his O-line teammates. So what happens to Barrett Jones? He ends up being the most feared and dominant center in the nation and is chosen #1 at his position again and a spot on the All-American first team for the second time in two years!

All of these accomplishments from a player that dominated the classroom academically equally well! Despite the heavy demands of playing Division I football all four years, Jones has just about completed his Master’s after earning an undergraduate degree in accounting while never posting a grade lower than a 4.0!

Everyone knows the persona of Alabama coach Nick Saban, who shy’s away completely from offering superlative quotes about his players (so as to keep them on edge). Know that Saban has coached close to a thousand players during his 40-year career out on the football field but had this to say about Barrett Jones:

“He is one of those people that if I start thinking what five players did I ever coach that was as good a person as I’ve ever been around in terms of his actions, how he did things, the example he set, the quality of performance he had, personally, academically, athletically, whatever he chose to do, he would be one of the finest players I ever had the opportunity to coach. Just not very many people like him. He's special,” said Saban. “He has all the right stuff. If we were still trying to get to the moon, Barrett Jones would be my first nomination to be the astronaut to get us there.”

The great poet Edgar A. Guest authored the words below in a poem about courage that rings so true – for you and every athlete no matter the sport - as we close out the today’s story:
 
… Courage must come from the soul within,
… The man must furnish the will to win.
… So figure it out for yourself, my lad.
… You were born with all that the greats have had,
… With your equipment they all began,
… Get hold of yourself and say: “I can.

My best always!

Jim

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“Legends are forged when Dreamers shut down the critics and tune out their fears. Pioneers don’t choose the road less traveled, they create a path that’s entirely their own. Legends stand out because they stood up and took the first steps toward their Dreams, no matter what stood in their way” – taken from the December, GQ Magazine
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"Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy, and the greatest of all is Confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable" – stated by the legendary Walt Disney
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“The most important part of a player's body is above his shoulders” - stated by baseball legend Ty Cobb

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Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com

WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

Greetings!

He was class president of his high school at age 17. Graduated from his university in three years with an overall 3.67 GPA. He made the Dean’s List on three occasions. Seven times he earned a spot on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll! A finalist for the very prestigious NCAA Arthur Ashe Award in 2010. Chosen THE Sports Person of the Year in 2012 for his entire college conference. Currently studying for his Master’s Degree in Communications.

Oh, besides all of the above, he found time to build a winning tradition for his college football program that had lost for 13 straight seasons prior to his arrival. Led his school to their first Bowl Game victory since the year 1992 (he racked up 67 points in the win) and happened to capture the 2011 Heisman Trophy among his many accolades. Meet Robert Griffin III.

The Washington Redskins were so wrapped up into his charismatic personality and athletic skill set on the football field that they proceeded to shock all NFL teams and their fans everywhere by swapping out their first round pick (#6 to #2) and two more future number one’s and a second round selection to St. Louis for the rights to select RG3.  Put yourself into his mindset: You’re just 22-years-old. Now fresh out of college. Heading to the Nation’s Capital - the same city where our President, Senators, Congressmen, the country’s most influential deal makers and media scribes and bloggers reside! All eyes are on you! You’ve just been given the keys to a franchise worth $1,600,000,000 (or $1.6 Billion) according to Forbes Magazine. Their rabid fan base is starving for a winner after seeing the team finish dead last in the NFC East each of the last four seasons prior to this year.

No pressure right? Before the plaudits come in with how Griffin helped lead the Redskins to an exciting first place finish here in 2012 and a spot in the NFL Payoffs, perhaps RG3’s greatest individual achievement this year is not what we all witnessed on the field but I see it as how he retransformed the Redskins’ locker room just like he did at Baylor University. Many say he was simply a force of overwhelming belief from that very first day he walked into the team’s training camp last July.

“His expectation of winning and playing great is a huge influence in here,” said veteran tight end Chris Cooley. “It’s been a drastic change of culture, and you could say Robert has been the biggest part of that. He’s a natural leader. When he talks, people listen — and people believe. No one said, ‘Okay, you’re the quarterback, so we’re going to listen to what you say.’ You build that trust.

“It’s an unbelievably hard thing to do,” Cooley continued. “I don’t think he came in and in his mind said, ‘I have to make everyone believe in me.’ I think he came in and said, ‘I believe in myself, and I’m going to do what I do best.’ And the rest just falls into place.”

This is Griffin’s team now. The seeds were first planted – and evident to everyone – when the team was preparing to play their first pre-season game back on August 9^th. RG3 got himself into the first row seat on the team bus before his teammates arrived so that he could reach up and “fist tap” every single player and coach as they boarded the vehicle.  It was Griffin that also gave a riveting locker room speech to the entire team when they came off the bye week in mid-November with a three-game losing streak and a 3-6 record.

Because of these moments, Griffin now wears a Captain’s “C” on his Redskins’ jersey, an extraordinary honor unheard of for an NFL rookie. “Everybody gets in line behind him and says, ‘Take us to the promised land,’ ” says wide receiver Santana Moss, himself a 12-year veteran. “I know it sounds funny saying that, but he shows what it takes every day to get to where he’s trying to get by how he prepares. It shows up on the field on Sundays. There’s no question you want this guy to be a captain.”

“I think I earned their belief after the first preseason game, and I think I got their trust after the first regular season game,” Griffin said. “Because your work and your work ethic can only speak so much, but once you go out and do it in a game and you perform in the clutch, that’s when you can really earn guys’ trust.”

What sets Griffin apart from most everyone else? He has the charisma and showmanship of a Michael Jordan, combined with the self-confidence and leadership skills to run a Fortune 500 Corporation and then add in the feel goodness of a quality human being that genuinely cares about people … he is an attraction magnet!   

SO THAT YOU KNOW, ROBERT GRIFFIN III IS PROOF THAT GREAT THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE DESPITE YOUR DRAFT ROUND OR POSITION ON THE TEAM. BACK IN 2008 AS A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL, SCOUTS HAD RG3 RANKED AS THE 42^ND BEST PROSPECT - JUST IN THE STATE OF TEXAS ALONE! TODAY, HE’S AT THE HEAD OF HIS CLASS JUST LIKE HE PROVED ACADEMICALLY YEARS AGO!  

All the best my friend!

Jim

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“Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy, and the greatest of all is Confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable" – stated by the legendary Walt Disney

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“What happened yesterday is history. What happens tomorrow is a mystery. What we do today makes a difference” – stated by Nick Saban, University of Alabama Head Football Coach

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“No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave” – stated by Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States (1923–1929)

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Jim Loria

E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com

Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com