Football season is long over and I don’t really get caught up in who wins the big game, who had the most yards, who did what, etc. I’m just a sports fan in general who likes watching the competition. I also enjoy watching my fellow referees out there doing the best they can in the stripes. Josh Allen‘s MVP speech came across my feed the other day. I know he is a highly successful quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, but other than that, I didn’t know much about him or his story.
I recommend you watch the speech. You can find it here. In less than five minutes, Josh Allen represented his family, his organization, and both who he is as a player and person in the speech. I thought it was just tremendous. He thanks everyone, including the guy in the Bills’ mail room. He thanked his teammates and the Bills Organization.
Most importantly, however, he thanked his parents and his family. To hear him talk about his mom and dad and the support they gave him over the years was tremendous. He thanked them and said thank you for supporting me and my favorite teammates, talking about his siblings.
Wow. An NFL star who makes millions of dollars and was one small play away from the Super Bowl. He gave such a beautiful speech full of gratitude and authenticity.
A few things come to mind while watching that speech and thinking about my own life as a husband, father, and school leader.
- Number one: Through it all, your family has to come first. Life is short, and things happen. Get to your family’s events and support your number one team first, your family.
- Number two: It truly is a team effort. To hear Josh Allen talk about everyone in the Bills organization really was inspiring. As a school leader, you want the best for your students in so many ways, including engaging in fun curriculum, a safe school, and lots of opportunities. Yet if the food is not good in the cafeteria, the kids will have a rough time at school. If the buses are not on line, the kids would be late. If the toilets get blocked up, we’d have to shut down school. We need all parties involved, from top to bottom to help run the school and be successful.
Everybody has a hand in success. It’s important that we recognize and thank those around us who show up to school and work each and every day giving their all.
Thank you Josh Allen, for being a class act. Congratulations on your MVP. Keep surviving and thriving friends.
