NOTE: Please keep reading. This isn’t just a story about the football stuff. It’s about something bigger.
In the midst of hearing the news about Junior Seau, here’s a story to lighten the mood a little bit. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Eric LeGrand to a contract. LeGrand was paralyzed in 2010 while playing for Rugters.
“It’s a symbolic gesture. They can’t give me any money with the salary cap and all that kind of stuff,” LeGrand said in his conference call. “It’s symbolic, something coach wanted to do and I appreciate that. It just shows the man that he is.”
It’s stories like these that stop and remind me how lucky I am for my life so far. A guy whose life was centered around, in large part, football and all of it was taken away. Yet, not even a year later, he’s back at school to finish his studies, remained upbeat and already proved the doctors wrong.
“It’s something I always dreamed about, go to the NFL and retire and become a sportscaster,” LeGrand said. “Dreams do come true if you really believe. You do the right things in life, good things happen to you. He really just did this out of the kindness of his heart. It’s really what he wanted to do. I had no idea this was going to happen.”
As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I mean, here’s a young man that, if he felt sorry for himself and complained, few people would hardly blame him. Yet, he chose to keep going. Chose to make the best of his situation and now he has a bright future ahead of him once again.
I’ve gotten questions about why (aside from promoting this blog) I post all the cliches about working hard and never giving up. Why? Because I believe it’s true. Stories like this prove it. It’s because, as naive as this may be, I still believe that what makes America great is that we don’t give up. We get knocked down, we get back up. Something doesn’t go our way, we find a way to work through it. Something seems hard, or unfair, or our work’s piling up, don’t complain. Buckle down and do it. Life isn’t handed to us. And, it’s scaring me a little how many people I’ve met that expect that.
And yet, I read things like this article. In it it says our generation isn’t the greatest generation. In fact, it might be the most selfish. Why can’t people just work hard. Be willing to sacrifice. There’s nothing wrong with working up the ladder to get to a dream job. The amount of people I’ve met whose families have been blessed enough to help them pay for rent, car insurance, school, etc. And yet, as soon as they have to start picking up the bills, it’s oh woe is me. Or, they complain about what major they’re studying. Or, they spend money on wants, not needs. There’s no sense of saving for something. If they want it now, they get it now, regardless of it they can afford it. I wish people would give, but to do it genuinely. Not because, as so many celebrities do, for a PR purpose. Or not because it’s for a certain group their friends are in. How about just researching multiple charities and giving anonymously? I give. I don’t give much, but I give what I can. Never tell anyone when I do. Never disclose the amount to anyone. All the money we spend on things like Starbucks, movies, clothes, etc. throughout the year and you’re telling me you can’t afford to give? Look, I’m not saying cut everything out. But it’s called budgeting.
It’s stories like these that, in the end, just make me sick to my stomach. Partly because I know I’m as guilty of this as anyone else. But, I’ve at least tried to change (and I hope I have).
Funny thing is the people I really want to make an appeal to. The people who I wish would listen probably won’t read this. They probably are too busy going about their lives, complaining about something. Oh well.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Lukas Eggen 