I recently found out that former WVU quarterback Pat White had made the local UFL Virginia Destroyers roster and I am psyched. Pat was the proverbial “all that and a bag of chips” in college football. I’m hoping to relive some of the glory days by catching a game this season.
I readily confess that I am an unabashed homer and fanboi of the West Virginia University football program. Growing up in the much maligned Mountain State (That’s alliteration, folks!) you develop a fierce loyalty to all things West Virginia. A sense of “everybody’s against us” pervades the mentality of many WVU fans and West Virginians in general. So when WVU is taking college football by the throat as it did during Pat White’s illustrious career, life is good.
If you look at White’s Wikipedia page you will see a litany of awards and accomplishments from his days at WVU. While leading the Mountaineers, he helped bring four straight bowl game trophies to the university including wins over perennial powerhouses Oklahoma and Georgia. Those were the days.
These are not the days. Despite being drafted by the Miami Dolphins, professional sports has been none to kind to White. He barely played the one year he was on the Dolphins, and he was literally knocked out of his last game due to a helmet to helmet hit. After the NFL he tried play professional baseball, but that did not work out either. Now he is fighting for a position in a league that only the die-hard sports fans know exists.
How can someone as supremely talented athletically as White have such trouble finding success as a professional? I don’t know, but I do have a couple thoughts on how the past can effect us.
Past success is a two-edged sword. It can hinder us or propel us. Just because we were able to do something a certain way in the past does not mean it will happen again. White was a successful college quarterback … that ran a lot. In the NFL quarterbacks do not run unless you are Mike Vick and he doesn’t do it as much as he used to. White’s past success as a running QB wasn’t going to propel him to a lengthy career in the NFL. Adaptation is necessary. Life is always changing and we must adapt our skills, talents and training to insure that we have the best chance for success. “I’ve always done it this way” are words of death. Be willing to adjust how you see and do life without compromising your core values.
On the other hand, take extreme confidence from the fact that you have experienced great wins in the past. Pat White may be struggling to find athletic success at the moment, but he can encourage himself in future conquests based on what he has already accomplished. We cannot live in the past, but we can be inspired by it. What wins can you remember that will build your confidence right now? If you’ve done it once, you can do it again. Just be willing to adjust your strategy or skill set if need be.