By Troy Vincent
NFL Player Engagement
As the new season gets underway, football’s increasing emphasis on health and safety has firmly taken hold to become part of your life as you reap what you sow each and every day.
Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), players requested and received a longer offseason, less time at the facility, less time on the field, and less of a training camp, which meant the overall number of practices was practically cut in half from former years.
This newfound treasure trove of unregulated time elevates more than ever the importance of self-regulation, self-inventory, and self-accountability, and raises introspective questions.
Did you spend your offseason just lying around or did you spend it working on your craft? Did you become a better student of the game, understanding your strengths, and weaknesses, and how they can be used in situational football?
Did you become an active leader in the community? Did you advance your relationships? Did you spend more time with your children?
And now that you are knee-deep into the season, how are you handling your business?
We live in a world of now, and even though now is the time when you earn your money on the field, it can also be the time when you can concurrently build relationships that may pay off down the road.
Whether you are a rookie or a veteran, a relationship you develop now with a scout or assistant coach could come into play later when that person conceivably becomes a team president or head coach.
Conversely, you may be a superstar who may consciously or unconsciously have a negative interaction with someone who someday could be your next employer, but because of the way they perceive that you mistreated them, they are not going to embrace you.
Bottom line, you have been given the gift of having more time both during the season and in the offseason, so use your good fortune of being an NFL player as a forum to treat everyone with respect.
Like everyone who plays our game, your playing days will someday end, and you are likely to encounter familiar faces that you met along the way, and hopefully you treated them well since you never know where someone will end up.
And keep in mind the words of Dr. Charles Stanley from one of his Sunday sermons: “You reap what you sow, more than you sow, later than you sow. You never know when the harvest is coming.”