Sports and Life

Courage comes in all kinds of forms and situations. There's no doubt that those men and women who've chosen to serve our country in the military possess courage. Just like there is no doubt that those men and women who serve as police officers and firefighters show their courage on a daily basis as they serve the public. Courage shows up in other forms too. It takes courage for some to stand up and speak in front of their peers, or what about the courage of those who've chosen to step into a classroom full of kindergarteners? Courage is found in the world of sports all the time.

Can you imagine the courage it takes to stand 60 feet 6 inches away from a Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, or a Neftali Feliz 100 mph fastball with just a plastic helmet on your head and a wooden stick in your hands? And we laugh when those pitchers throw a curve ball that buckles the knees of the batters. How about those kids learning to play the game and take a hot grounder off their shins yet get back in front of the next grounder hit to them?

Courage is defined in the dictionary as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger or pain without fear. In my 33 years of coaching kids, I've seen more courage by some really little guys facing their fears in baseball, football and basketball than I can even begin to mention. However, the greatest example of courage I've ever witnessed in sports was on the professional level.

Emmitt Smith is one of the greatest running backs of all time. He is the all-time leader in yards gained in the NFL, a Hall of Famer and member of the Ring of Honor for one of the greatest NFL franchises in existence. His display of courage against the Giants in the Meadowlands on January 2, 1994 is unmatched in my books.

At the end of a long run in the waning minutes of the first half, Emmitt Smith was driven into the ground and suffered a first degree separation of his right shoulder. He only missed two plays. He played the rest of the game with a hurt shoulder and finished with 168 yards rushing. Now, I've played football in my days (obviously not anywhere in the same solar system as the NFL) so I've got some experience and it doesn't take to a rocket scientist to know what kind of physical beating football players take. I've never separated my shoulder either, but it's quite obvious that it is extremely painful. Emmitt Smith not only took the beating he normally took, but did it with a dislocated shoulder. Now its not like the Giants didn't know he was hurt and were trying to be gentle with him. They were playing for the playoffs too. Emmitt was out there dragging his arm, running hard and actually used his hurt arm to stiff arm Lawrence Taylor! The only thing he asked was that the linemen come pick him up off the turf at the end of the play. You ask yourself why did he do it? Why didn't he take himself out? Do you know what Emmitt said? He said he knew that his teammates needed him. Despite his teammates urging him to take care of himself, he knew that he was needed and did what he had to do inspite of the pain.

I have a better understanding of what courage is now. Its something that's left out of its definition. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger or pain without fear as they serve someone else. Think about it, the military, police officers and firefighters do what they do, not for themselves, but for someone else. Just like the kindergarten teacher who walks into that room to teach those kids, the person who stands up to speak for those they are representing, or that little leaguer fielding a ground ball for his team. Courage is not just about oneself, but about others.