Did everybody in America get their Pick?

 

I dare say—most likely not! At least not on the side of the players who were left out of any NFL deal. Even those who were drafted, or signed as free agents, most likely didn’t end up on the NFL team they’d dreamed about all their lives as kids. Maybe some did. But the stats tell another story of mostly did not’s. Still, what an honor to be part of the NFL regardless of what team!


So, just for the sake of the underdogs, let’s hear three cheers for them! You know, the kids who didn’t make it. (Sorry, any male specie who is under the age of thirty is still a kid to me!) Okay, players, young fellers if you will, who didn’t get the call for the draft or didn’t sign a free agent contract, what about them? They may either try out for arena football, possibly pro wrestling, or make the proverbial career move into the painful world of gainful employment.

To a true football player, yes—a job, coupled with the rejection of the NFL can be the most painful experience going. The end of playing football for these guys is suddenly wide spread and narrows employment options drastically. Their new career options and the potential for gainful employment that produces a similar income appears bleak.



Photo courtesy of Safire Productions

Some of those players are the sons of families who’ve hung the last hope of getting out of generational poverty onto the backs of these kids. So much weight rides on the shoulders of such young fellas and now they feel like failures without even the slightest glimmer of hope to help their families soar above the substandard norm. That’s a lot for a kid to live with.

Don’t you know they feel crushed? Heart sickened with penetrating disappointment while their padres who made it to the NFL party and celebrate like crazy. Well, celebrate yes—not taking anything away from them. Let’s just hope they don’t let it go to their craniums too fast… which often times, sadly it does. Their attitudes rapidly rise, then reek with the overinflated ego stench. The cure for the cranium high is a good dose of humility. An adjustment which also sadly, will come sooner or later.  

What happens to the has been college football players? Perhaps they’re back home or looking for a roommate and a place to live. It’s these guys—yes hello, these fellas are who really earn my admiration. I believe they are the ones who will rise to the top! Yep, that’s right. They’ll rise like never before. Extenuating circumstances can launch the human spirit into overdrive! 

Most of these young fellas do have mamas in their corner who care. I kinda believe us mamas are born with a cheerleader’s heart. For those who don’t have mamas they can depend on, perhaps a special coach, another close family member or someone they feel comfortable with that they can go to for emotional support and guidance. Mamas, I trust you are that cheerleader and champion your son with your unconditional love tucked in your hearts.

God cares immensely about the has been player and their lives whether those fellas know it or not. My prayer is that one day they will know it fully—if not today, one day for sure!

 

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJ

Hope! How sweet the word, hope. I honestly believe, I hope, for the ones who didn’t make it to the next level last week, or who may get cut before too long, (after all—Tim Tebow recently got cut from the New York Jets) that someday day, this very somber moment in time will be one of the best, most teachable moments they’ll ever experience in a lifetime. I pray it’s a life changer for God’s glory & good.

Yes, I believe the underdogs, former players, will look back on this time, and see God’s great big hand in it all. How He protected them from perhaps going down a rabbit hole that would lead a young fella to destruction in no time flat. Maybe even, saving their life in more ways than one—could be His greatest purpose.

Now, these has been’s are free to DREAM as big as they want without the green, 100-yard box, boxing them in. God can take the failures, the flubs, the setbacks and roll them all together, creating new goals within the hearts of these former players and send them soaring to even greater heights. It’s not as painful as rehab and they are used to hard work heck; they trained for it! They are natural competitors! How many companies or employers wouldn’t want such fine young fellas on their team? Are you kidding me? They’d be nuts!

So what, if it’s not on the gridiron with the fans cheering their paycheck. How many NFL-ers are really that wealthy? Not as many as you may think. America needs young men, (there, I said it!) with the talent and the character only football teaches. Their heart for hard work is unprecedented.

I pick the underdogs!