Posted on 09/10/2016 7:20:52 AM PDT by rlmorel
A Letter to my Younger Self by Danny Woodhead
Dear 18-year-old Danny,
I know it still stings. But if theres one thing I know about you its that when you get knocked down, you dont stay down for long. Now, as you begin your freshman year of college football, the only thing greater than the disappointment of not getting a scholarship offer to play at Nebraska is your excitement to join your older brother, Ben, and follow in your fathers footsteps at Division II Chadron State College.
When one door to college football closed, God pushed another one open.
Remember that. It will become a theme a mantra, almost for your football career.
Every kid who has ever played youth football in the state of Nebraska has had the dream of running out onto the field at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln with the N on his helmet. You were no different. You played at North Platte High in the fall and went to the Cornhuskers football camp in the summer. You broke state rushing records. You were named the 2003 Nebraska player of the year.
But none of that materialized into an offer. Nebraska looked at your five-foot-seven, 175-pound frame and like other D-I colleges thought you were too small to play running back or even wide receiver. Instead, they invited you to walk on as a kick returner.
All youve ever wanted to do was play football. Youve known it ever since you were a little kid writing jersey numbers on the backs of cowboys and Indians and hosting mock football games on your bedroom floor. You knew it when you moved those games out to the living room, where you colored a football field on the carpet with a green marker (Mom and Dad loved that). You knew it when you started playing football in the fourth grade, and when you became a ball boy at North Platte High, where Dad coached.
But I know youve thought mostly about playing at Nebraska, not in the NFL. Not because you dont think you can play professionally, but because you try not to look too far ahead. You know God has a plan for you, so you try to focus on whats right in front of you and run through the doors He opens.
When Nebraska didnt offer you a scholarship, you handled it well, Danny. That door had closed. No sense dwelling on it. Yes, it was frustrating. But you handled it with poise and without animosity.
Youll be glad you did, because there will come a time when youll need some help from the Cornhuskers, and theyll be there for you. Ill get to that later. For now, lets talk about the sting of performing at a high level, only to be overlooked.
Its a feeling you need to get used to, Danny. Youll feel it again when even though youll graduate from Chadron State as the all-time NCAA rushing leader you arent invited to work out for NFL scouts at the combine.
Say what you will about Gods plan, but Hes remarkably consistent.
But so are you both in your play on the field and in how you overcome adversity.
When the invitation to the combine doesnt come even though youll run for almost 8,000 yards in your college career and win two Harlon Hill trophies, the D-II equivalent of the Heisman youll be disappointed. On top of that, NFL scouts wont be interested in attending a pro day at tiny and remote Chadron State, so the school wont host one.
Thats where Nebraska will come in.
As youre reading this, Mom is working for a mentoring program called Teammates. It was founded by legendary Huskers coach Tom Osborne. He and Mom, one of the organizations regional coordinators, work together, and he will see your ability firsthand when he attends a game at Chadron State. After he becomes the athletic director at Nebraska in 2007, you and Mom will ask him if you can work out at the Cornhuskers pro day and he wont hesitate to invite you.
So the same school that didnt offer you a D-I scholarship will still play a huge role in your life by providing the only venue where you can display your talent to NFL scouts.
And just like you did with your opportunity at Chadron State, youll take advantage. Youll run a 4.33 40-yard dash, which will be one of the fastest times among NFL prospects that year, combine or otherwise. Your other numbers will stack up well, too.
But if you havent picked up on the pattern by now, scouts wont focus on your on-field numbers. Theyll only focus on what shows up when you step on the scale and when they roll out the measuring tape.
Say what you will about Gods plan, but Hes remarkably consistent.
So you can probably guess what draft night will be like for you.
The rounds will come and go, and youll be sitting there, waiting for your opportunity. Then, towards the end of the seventh round, youll get a phone call. It will be from New York Jets coach Eric Mangini.
But the Jets wont draft you, Danny. By that time, there will only be a few picks left, and the Jets wont own any of them. Mangini wants to see if youll sign with New York as a free agent after the draft.
So the door to the NFL through the draft will close. But youll find another thats open, and youll run through it by agreeing to sign with the Jets.
I wish I could tell you that youre going to take the NFL by storm and have a long, successful career in New York and everybody is going to live happily ever after. But just because your life will be going according to Gods plan doesnt mean its going to be a fairy tale.
A couple of days into your rookie training camp, youre going to get carted off the field.
Torn ACL.
Injured reserve.
Done for the year.
Its over, youll think. Im never going to play football again. Its not like you to be pessimistic, but its a pretty rational thought to have. I mean, what NFL team wants an undersized, undrafted rookie who just missed a full season after ACL surgery?
Youll talk to your wife, Stacia your wife. That sounds crazy, right? The two of you have been dating since freshman year of high school, and shell be there for you through everything through the four years youll spend apart at different colleges eight hours away from each other; through pro day and draft night. Shell even be the one helping you as you hobble around on crutches after your ACL surgery. Shell always be there. So that will be the first call you make after your injury.
The second call youll make will be to God.
Youll pour your heart out in prayer the frustration, the disappointment, the fear that your NFL career will be over before it has ever begun.
Suddenly, all that fear and doubt will leave your mind, and youll feel a complete change come over you. Over and over in your head, youll begin to think, I will play next year.
Maybe its God speaking to you. Maybe its you realizing that you have to stop feeling sorry for yourself, get back to work and trust in Gods plan. Nobody said making it in the NFL was going to be easy. And every time a door has been slammed in your face, you have found another thats been open. Why should this be any different?
When all is said and done, tearing your ACL will turn out to be the best thing that could have possibly happened to you.
I know that sounds twisted, but hear me out .
During your year of rehab and recovery, youll have time to learn how to live with Stacia as a newly married couple, so the time off will benefit your relationship tremendously. It will also benefit your NFL career, as youll get to sit back and learn from veterans Leon Washington, Thomas Jones and Tony Richardson about how to conduct yourself as a pro, how to study, how to take care of your body things other rookies will have to learn on the fly while still performing on the field.
Youll learn how much work you have to put in to make it in the NFL. And when the next season comes around, youll not only make the team as a practice squad player, but youll eventually get moved to the active roster and even make it on the field for a few games.
But remember, your career is not going to be a fairy tale.
In fact, after surviving final roster cuts before the 2010 season, the Jets are going to release you in Week 2. Youll hit waivers, and no teams will claim you. So every team in the NFL will have a chance to grab you, and they will all pass.
At this point, as you and Stacia are driving back to Nebraska from your New Jersey apartment, a familiar thought will creep into your mind: Maybe its over.
Then, back in Omaha, youll get a call from your agent. Hell say he has the Patriots on the line, and they want to sign you.
Like I said, youre not a pessimistic guy. But this call will come on a Friday, two days before the Patriots are supposed to play the Jets. So your first instinct will be to think that they only want to sign you to get some information. You may not have been in the league long at this point, but youll know enough about how it works to know that this is something teams do.
But lets face it: You wont be in any position to turn down an NFL team. So youll hop on the next flight to New England to sign that contract. Youll have until 4 p.m. EST to sign the deal to get paid that week youll get there at 3:50 p.m.
Then, you wont join the team for Sundays game. You wont even talk to the Patriots coaches until Monday the day after the Jets game.
So maybe they didnt want information from you after all.
Now, as youre reading this, its 2004 and the Patriots have just won their second Super Bowl in three years. Well let me tell you something: Theyre going to win it again next year. Then theyll get back to the Super Bowl a few years after that. And when you get to New England in 2010, theyll still be the class of the NFL. So youll feel pretty good about where youve landed.
And the timing couldnt be more perfect, because in that game against the Jets, their top receiving back, Kevin Faulk, will tear his ACL. As much as you will hate to see that happen to another player especially a guy youll go on to become good friends with it will be a big opportunity for you. That Monday, the first day you meet with the coaches, theyll give you a playbook and tell you to start studying.
The following Sunday, youll take the field for the first time in a Patriots uniform, and youll score your first NFL touchdown.
Like I said, Danny youre not going to set the NFL on fire. But youre going to do everything youre asked to do and youre going to work your butt off. And thats how you stay in the league for a long time. Talent will only get you so far.
But you are going to have some big moments.
In 2011, your second season with the Patriots, youre going to play in the Super Bowl.
Yes, you. The 18-year-old Nebraska kid who couldnt even get a D-I offer is going to play in the Super Bowl.
But thats not even the best part. As the second quarter winds down and youre trailing the Giants 93, youre going to score the go-ahead touchdown, releasing out of the backfield and catching a four-yard dart from Tom Brady.
Yes, you. The 18-year-old Nebraska kid who couldnt even get a D-I offer is going to play in the Super Bowl.
It will be the greatest moment of your football life. But there wont be a fairy-tale ending to this one, Danny. Because despite your big moment, your team will lose the game, 2117.
I know Dad being a coach has taught you that its always about the team, never the individual. I know youve always played that way, too. So even though that touchdown will instantly become the highlight of your football life, every time you think of it after that night, youll wish you could trade it in for a Super Bowl ring.
One thing youll never want to trade for anything is your time in New England. Youll spend three amazing seasons there playing with one of the greatest quarterbacks in history and learning under a genius of a coach in Bill Belichick. Your teammates, the fans New England will hold a special place in your heart.
Even so, after three years, youll decide to leave the Patriots.
Let me tell you what free agency is going to be like: Excruciating. You wont be a top-tier free agent, so youll have to wait until the first wave of signings pass before teams start calling. At the beginning of free agency, teams will be able to start negotiating with players on Saturday and start signing them on Monday. Youll get an offer pretty much immediately from the Patriots to re-sign. But since its your first time as a free agent, you wont sign right away because youll want to see what else is out there.
So youll wait.
Now, the longer you wait, the greater the risk of the terms of the contract offer changing, or it being taken off the table completely. Thats why its so excruciating.
Tuesday will pass, no offers.
Wednesday will pass, nothing.
Thursday morning, youll talk to Stacia. Shell suggest setting a deadline.
How about we just pray about it, and if nothing happens by 11 a.m. tomorrow, youll call your agent and tell him you want take the New England deal.
Youll agree.
Sure enough, 11 a.m. Thursday will roll around, and the Patriots will be your only offer. So youll call Chris, your agent.
Hey Chris. I prayed about it, and I really feel like at this point, Im supposed to go back to New England.
O.K., hell say. Anything else?
Hell cut you off before you even have a chance to respond.
Wait a second, hell say. San Diegos calling.
Hell hang up with you and answer the call. In that moment, even though you wont know if the Chargers are truly interested in you, youll know in your heart that youre going to San Diego. The timing will be too perfect it has to be part of Gods plan.
Chris will call you back, and within three hours, youll be a San Diego Charger.
Thats where Im writing you from, Danny. Im writing you from my home in San Diego as I prepare for my ninth NFL season. I know thats hard for you to believe. I mean, Im living it, and its still hard for me to believe sometimes. I still thank God every day for the blessings I have in my life. Its been an incredible ride, and Im hoping I still have four or five years left to play the game that Ive loved my entire life.
Its not going to be easy for you to get to where I am, Danny. Your road from North Platte, to Chadron State, to New York, to New England and finally to San Diego is going to be filled with disappointment. There will be obstacles to overcome, and a lot of people will doubt you along the way.
Do yourself a favor, Danny: Let it bother you. You dont have to be that chip-on-your-shoulder, Im-gonna-prove-everybody-wrong guy. Just keep it to yourself and use it as motivation to work harder than anybody else. Because thats what its going to take.
Thats how I got here.
Work hard. Be a good teammate. Laugh at yourself and dont take yourself too seriously. Enjoy your time at Chadron State, a place that you will always hold close to your heart. Enjoy the time youll spend playing with your brother. And when you get to the NFL, enjoy that, too. I know I am. Nine years sounds like a long time, but its going to fly by. So soak in every moment.
And finally, trust in Gods plan. When one door closes, dont get down on yourself. Because He will open another. And when He does, do what you do best and run through it.
Danny
You don't have to like football, the NFL, or any of the teams to appreciate this missive. I am a Patriots fan, and we all loved this guy when he made the team, and were very disappointed to see him leave. As a fan in the market where he played, I was able to see more of his story and personal characteristics on display than others might have been able to, but everyone agreed-this guy is a quality human being who happens to play sports for a living.
I show two pictures of him here, one is a remarkable sports photo, showing grace, power, and talent:
...and one that shows something of how he appeared to the fans when he showed up. He is not a big guy, and his mannerisms and appearance without his helmet exuded a boy who just got a chance to play on a professional football team:
Which, when you come down to it, is kind of his story.
An inspirational story, a wonderful "letter" about overcoming challenges, warmed my heart reading it.. Hope you enjoy it.
Much shorter letter in the case of myself:Dear Me: DO all the crap the old geezers and dumb asses TOLD you to do and DON’T DO any of that silly crap you have in your own head.
Amazing testimony. Thanks for posting.
My own story, while not as public as Danny’s, is just as filled with clear signs from God about what I’m supposed to do. I’m not all that good at listening, so.... A couple of times, God had to hit me on the head with 2x4. But, he also provided me with a perfect life partner to help pick me up and point me in the right direction.
God is good.
Thanks for sharing.
Great read. Thanks for posting.
Heh, no kidding...somehow, much of it does boil down again to: Your parents were right...
I agree about the being hit on the head thing. Sometimes, you just need it to happen...:)
You are most welcome. It brought a smile to my face. I needed something to counter the billions being given to Iran for who knows what purpose.
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