Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Curtis Martin Did Not Like Football


A friend just sent me this video of a speech delivered by Curtis Martin at his induction into the pro football of Fame.

It is one of the most inspiring and impressive speeches I have heard in quite a long time, so I am happy to share it.

Martin played running back for the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. And yet, as he explains, he did not like to run. He did not like football. He was not a fan of the game. When he was drafted into the NFL his first thought was that he did not want to play football.

Anyone who believes that you need to follow your passion or your bliss or your heart’s desire should pay close attention to the way Martin describes his journey to football.

And then Martin relates some gruesome and harrowing stories about his childhood. He tells about how he overcame the repeated traumas, the abuse he suffered and the abuse he witnessed.

Apparently, it is possible to have a positively awful childhood and still rise above it.

Martin offers some of the lessons he learned from his coaches, some of them among the best the game has ever seen.

Strikingly, Martin takes us back to a time when he was sitting in a church thinking that while some people make a deal with the devil he was going to make a deal with God.


1 comment:

Nick said...

I've been a Jets fan my whole life. I loved Curtis Martin when he played. The best part of his game was that he almost never fumbled.

Very reliable.

Thank you for posting this, I had watched part of it and meant to send it to my mom. She had to work 3 jobs too for more than several years, including teaching in the DC inner-city just to make ends meet. I don't know how she did it.