Well, we did it! My son Shawn and I made it to San Fran and back for Super Bowl 50! And although our hometown Panthers didn’t get the win and my former team the Denver Broncos did, my mission was gloriously accomplished of creating a memory for a lifetime with my oldest son. It all started so back in December when Shawn called me during the NFL regular season and said "Dad, you know if your Broncos and my Panthers make the Super Bowl, we gotta go!" “Sure” I said, thinking that matchup would not happen. I am so glad it did, as we explored a little bit of San Fran together, had lunch in Sausalito and marveled at the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge together before roaming around the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto for a morning.
Coach Wilson from THE QB MENTOR reminded me of how BIG the hype is for the Super Bowl, but it still overwhelmed me, even though I had been to the Broncos vs Giants Super Bowl in Pasadena in 1986. Coach went on to advise that my trip with Shawn was to enjoy our time together, but also was to introduce Shawn to that big of a stage for an athlete, and especially for a quarterback. He went on to say that although Shawn is finally healthy and set to compete for the quarterback position at Vanderbilt University this Spring; the fact is that training for an opportunity in the NFL also begins right now. I think Shawn enjoyed the experience and also took note of Coach Wilson’s encouragement. When we said good bye at the airport, he said "time to go to work on my future!"
During the week I did several radio interviews about THE QB MENTOR and about the Super Bowl game itself. It was fun, but my prognostication did not play itself out, as I predicted the Panthers would dominate and win the game big. What happened? Well, first and foremost, the Denver Broncos happened as they played inspired defense AND just as importantly, they knew they were part of something EPIC going on as far as Peyton Manning's last game and winning a Super Bowl championship. So, credit goes to the Broncos.
In addition, I think we saw a team and its leader, Cam Newton, not quite ready to be the champion...YET. His post game press conference, where he mumbled one word answers behind a sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head wreaked of immaturity and a lack of humility. As the NFL MVP, he is being anointed the face of a $50 billion dollar industry, and along with his incredible physical talents, his $100,000,000 salary and his massive marketing appeal, he is expected to handle the spotlight when things don’t go his way. No excuses, no explanations. And he didn’t, this time. Its not just about what happens, its more about how you react, and I fully expect Cam and the Panthers to be back on that stage in the coming years with a different outcome!
In 1981 as a sophomore quarterback at UNC, I filled in on national TV for our injured starter, Rod Elkins, in what was at the time billed as the "biggest game in ACC history" as #8 UNC hosted #2 Clemson in Chapel Hill. I did not play very well, Clemson won the game 10-8 and eventually won the national championship. After the game, the press conference was one of the hardest things I ever had to endure in my athletic career. 30 minutes of question after question about my sub par performance and how I had cost our team the game. Was the stage too big, the lights to bright? Was I not good enough? Over and over.
My dad called me after the game, and he said something I will never forget,
"Son, sometimes…. you just have to take it like a man."
And that is what I tried to do, but things got worse for me the last three games of the season as the coaching staff shunned me and demoted me to the scout team for the rest of the year. I almost quit football and contemplated acting out in ways that I was not known for. Fortunately, a friend grabbed me by the proverbial neck and reminded me "That is not who you are! Not the poor performance in one football game, and certainly not the quitting and giving up attitude." Thank God for that friend, their message and the wake up call because it allowed me to come back and eventually have a successful football career at UNC and even three years as a backup quarterback with the Denver Broncos, behind John Elway and now head coach Gary Kubiak!
It was a hard lesson, but in life, especially when things don’t go your way, despite your best effort, sometimes you have to take it like a man. And I have been able to apply that message over and over in my adult life, especially the past few years with the deaths in our family and even with my leukemia diagnosis.
Our weekend in San Francisco was a privilege and dream come true to be at Super Bowl 50 with Shawn, share Peyton’s last game, and Cam’s first Super Bowl. Also witnessing first hand the lessons about how to handle yourself on the biggest stages in your life. Because SOMETIMES… well you know the rest.
Amen and AMEN