The Competition is Intense and the Stakes are High

Twenty-three hundred-thousandths

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0.023% of football players could potentially go all the way from high school to professional.

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That is an extremely small number.

I get it.

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Actually, I don’t.

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I have never been a football player competing against 1,083,308 other football athletes from high school. I especially have never competed for roughly 73,660 spots on an NCAA team to play under the lights. Or even a place in the top 22% that could potentially go to the draft; which the number is like 16,370 if you were wondering. All of that for really only 254 spots in the NFL. I dont know that kind of competition. I don’t know the thrill and the excitement that comes with walking on the field and pulling out a win, I dont know what it’s like to lose a game and have that be your last game ever. I don’t know that.

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But I do numbers and I know people.

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Dante Bivens, number 74 on Colorado State Universities’ football team made it to the 6.8% (73,660) of athletes who get to play in the NCAA. Not only did he make it there, but he also made it to the 2.6% who are good enough to play in D1. He knows that type of competition but that doesn’t seem to get to him, and doesn’t stop him from playing his game.
There’s a lot to be said about people who don’t give up when it gets challenging. They deserve all the credit it’s more than a game to these guys. It’s a lifestyle on and off the field.

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“And I love football because it’s more than just a game,” Bivens said, “It provides you with the ability to learn many different lessons and skills that you can take into your life after you are done playing.”
To enter a stadium with thousands of fans going crazy for your team, for you, is why so many athletes continue what they do. Sure it’s going to end someday, there is a point in everyone’s life where they dream about being a professional but we all can’t make it to the NFL.

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Where would we be if there wasn’t this type of competition? This is what makes a win so sweet. This is what makes the hard work, long nights, and early mornings worth it for all those players. But those who make it are the ones who are closest to our hearts. They live and breathe football.

Just giving credit where credit is due because doing this day in and the day isn’t easy, especially when you are the only one competing for a spot. To be one of the 254 takes strength and time, being the best doesn’t come overnight. These athletes find a grove, they find their mark and I understand that not everyone likes sports or cares but as consumers where would we be without them? These boys who become men in such a short period count on us to never give up because they don’t either.

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Do you know the saying, hard work pays off? Well, Daunte does not fall short of that saying, and neither does any other student-athlete who is working to accomplish their goals. Yes, it’s going to be hard and there are going to be people with the same type of goal in mind, maybe 1 million or maybe 250 but that shouldn’t mean that those numbers should scare you away. That could be the biggest incentive that anyone could have; show them all how great you are.