Think before you act — be all that you can be

I had everything I needed heading into the 1984 draft. Then I thought getting there was enough.

Growing up poor in Petersburg, Virginia, with seven brothers and three sisters, football was my way out. When I signed my first contract, I used part of the bonus to buy my mother a seven-bedroom home. That’s still one of the proudest moments of my life.

Heading into the 1984 NFL Draft, I’d built my body into a machine — 6’1”, 238 pounds, benching 400, squatting 750, running a 4.55. I was projected as a future Pro Bowler. I had everything I needed.

Then I thought getting there was enough. It wasn’t. The trappings of money and good times crept in slow, like a quiet cancer, and knocked me off the discipline that got me there in the first place. I made it to Hawaii — but only to party, never as a Pro Bowl player. That’s a regret I still carry.

My high school baseball coach, Ollie Jarvis, once told me, “You’ve got the rest of your life to work and only a little time to play.” I understood the words. I didn’t live by them when it mattered most.

Self-discipline is the difference between good and great — the extra reps, the post-practice stretching, the ice tubs, the food choices nobody sees. Those are the “above and beyond” things. Don’t wait until it’s too late to be self-motivated.

There are no do-overs in life. Get it right the first time.