It's about the team

I was sitting around the table talking with some friends and we started talking about who the greatest football player of all time is. Many, many names were thrown around from present day superstars to greats from a bygone era. Several chose Emmett Smith, the Dallas Cowboy running back that will be a future Hall-of-Fame player. I, on the other hand, chose Daryl Johnston. You may ask "Who is Daryl Johnston?" and why I would choose a fullback that only carried the ball 232 times for 753 yards and 14 touchdowns [that's 1.4 touchdowns per year!] his entire career when there were so many others to pick?

I chose Daryl for many reasons; he was unselfish, he was the hardest working player on the field, being in the limelight was not important to him, winning was. But the most important of all reasons I chose Daryl was because throughout his 10-year career Daryl always put the team first.

You see, for his entire career Daryl Johnston had the unglamorous honor of opening holes and blocking for Emmett Smith. He was Emmett's fullback. For Emmett to get 18,355 yards in his career and become the NFL's ALL TIME RUSHING LEADER, he had to rely on Daryl. Game after game, season after season, Emmett would get the glory and Daryl would get the bruises. But did that bother Daryl? No. He has 3 Superbowl rings. He has played with and against some of the most talented and gifted athletes in the 20th century. And if you ask him, he will tell you all his efforts, all his pain and sacrifices were for one thing; opening holes so Emmett could run so the team could win. Simple, according to Daryl.

Now I know we don't have any Emmett Smith's on the team. But what I do know is we have an entire team made up of warriors like Daryl Johnston. Warriors that will give everything for the success of the team.

So next time your exhausted, beat up and ready to quit on the field, think of Daryl. If Daryl quit, Emmett couldn't run.

Run Emmett Run

GO SODIUM