Mark Runyon, Football Schedule from Flickr.com
Last night Austin (my 8 year old) and myself got to hear Peyton Manning deliver a benefit speech here at Graves County High School. I have long enjoyed watching Peyton play football. I appreciate his work ethic and cerebral way of playing the game. He was entertaining and interesting. Here are some of the valuable things he said which I wanted to share.
- He didn’t play organized football until the 7th grade. He said it wasn’t readily available at that time in New Orleans and was not something his dad encouraged. He played other sports throughout school. He encouraged the kids to play several different sports. He believes that you learn valuable lessons and enhance yourself physically by playing multiple sports. I agree with him and think the recent trend of starting kids so early and specializing into a chosen sport is not a good trend.
- Peyton is known for his leadership ability. He is also known for barking orders at the line. Interestingly, he shared that he has learned to gain his teammates respect by working hard, then choosing to exert his influence through words. Go in with humility, a learning attitude, and working hard, then open your mouth when you gain respect.
- Peyton spoke some about his relationship with his brothers, Cooper and Eli. He said that though they were very competitive growing up, they are not so today. Rather, he said they support one another today and want the other to excel. He said they don’t enjoy playing each other as they will this year. I thought how easy it would be for them to be sucked into the question of who is better; Peyton or Eli? How many families could benefit from such a philosophy. Sadly, many grow up competitive in small things and just continue it with big boy toys! It is about who is the most successful or has the most things. How much more joy would our families have if we wanted our siblings to excel and supported them in every way.
We enjoyed our time listening to Peyton. He shared some funny stories and offered some good advice. I hope you enjoyed a few I chose to share.
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