For a long time, I convinced myself that I could will my way to my dream. You know, as long as I wanted it bad enough, I could make it happen. But if there is one great truth that I learned from this great game, it’s that no great accomplishment is ever achieved by yourself. To be successful is contingent on others and it always starts with someone taking a chance on you. For years, I wondered if my someone was out there. My answer came in 1996. Out of the blue, I received a call from Al Luginbill, head coach of the Amsterdam Admirals, asking me to play in NFL Europe. Now knowing a second chance at the NFL would take a trip across the pond, I told him if he can get an NFL team to sign me, promising me that one last invite to training camp, I’d go. Al called numerous different teams; none were interested. When he informed me I told him, “thanks, but no thanks.” I assumed this would be the last time I talk to Al. But then out of the blue, almost exactly one year later, my phone rang again. And it was Al extending the same offer to which I responded with the same conditions: get an NFL team to sign me, I’m in. I was told this time Al called 12 different teams once again, no interest. But the 13th team, the St. Louis Rams, they agreed to give me a tryout. You know, it was the chance I had been waiting for. I showed up to Rams Park early with bells on. Then I proceeded to have the worst work out of my life. I called Brenda from the hallway of the facility and told her, “I blew it. I blew my last chance at the NFL.” But a few days later, I got a call from the Rams offering a contract. Now to this day I believe the signing was just a favor to Al. But all the same to me. One man’s junk, another man’s treasure. Al, thanks for calling back, for dusting me off and for uncovering my value. Thanks for being my someone.
But due to my long, winding path to realize my ultimate dream, I would need another someone. 1998, the night before final cuts, and one of the biggest questions was, “who would be the Rams third-string quarterback?” So Duck Vermeil pulled his entire staff on which of us to keep. The votes were split down the middle so the decision would be left to the instincts of the head man. I’ll never forget the moment I found out I made the team. I was wandering the halls of Rams Park, the same halls from which I called Brenda informing her I blew my tryout. But who do I run into? Coach Vermeil. And not very often do you find your football future in the hallway of the facility. After everything else I have been through, why should this be surprising? It was there I found the first step of my dream had been realized. But “you made the team” was not the statement that would leave the greatest impression. It would be the one that followed: Coach V looked me in the eye and said, “the reason you made this team is because I feel there is something special about you. Something different. And I couldn’t let you go without seeing if it was true.” Coach you know I love you and I’m indebted to you for giving me that chance. I spent my entire career trying to prove you right. In a business dominated by her decisions, thanks for following your heart.
