“It’s not whether you get knocked down.
It’s whether you get up.”
– Vince Lombardi
Two sporting events stuck with me over the weekend.
Firstly, in rugby, Ireland took on England at home in Dublin as the 6 nations competition kicked off.
Ireland were favourites and rightly so, having won team of the year, coach of the year and player of the year in 2018. In an important World Cup year, the expectations on this Irish team have never been as positive.
But things don’t always go to plan.
England came to play, and disrupted Ireland in every area of the field, deservedly running out eventual winners 32-20.
The second event was The Super Bowl in the US yesterday, with The New England Patriots yet again winning the coveted trophy by securing victory against the LA Rams, 13-3.
Half-way through this season no-one thought the Patriots were going to make it to the SuperBowl, let alone win it. But a great coach, inspirational Quarterback and hard-working team defied the odds yet again.
Their legendary Quarterback, Tom Brady, is now 41 – and still intends on competing at the highest level for the coming years. But Brady was not an obvious one destined for greatness.
He was the number 199 choice in the 2000 draft (eventually selected in the 6th round) and the scouting notes on his file were not particularly optimistic on his potential.
But persistence, determination and an unshakeable optimism have taken Brady to unforeseen heights in his sport, despite many knockdowns along the way.
You could say that the measure of a person and a team is how they respond when they get knocked down.
In that context it will be interesting to see how the Irish rugby team responds now.
If you’re someone who is interested in having or being better, then you’ll know about the ‘knock downs’ – they’re part of the game of life.
Some hits hurt more than others but the same question applies:
‘Will I get back up and go again?’