My heart is broken after the Seahawk Super Bowl loss but I took away something more. Like half of America I was certain of a Seahawk victory when a young man by the name of Malcolm Butler spoiled those plans. And yet, when I learned about his history I realized he was a study in never giving up. The current podcast shows the amazing things you can learn from a major loss and how to prepare for it.
For Butler the mental movie happens like this: He graduates from high school in Vicksburg Mississippi and received a scholarship a Community College, but after only five unspectacular games he was kicked off the team and resorted to working at a Popeye’s restaurant. Fast forward two years and he is invited back and doubled his number of tackles and interceptions, along with a record number of broken up plays.
He later transfers to the University of Western Alabama and does well with 45 tackles, 16 pass break ups and two interceptions. He was even listed as a “Beyond Sports Network” All-American. And yet, he went undrafted during the 2014 NFL draft. His luck seemed to change and he was picked by the New England Patriots, the only team that offered him a contract.
At several places in this narrative Butler could have stopped, given up, and simply asked “Is there is something else I can do with my life?”. Yet he kept coming back, And not just coming back but improving each time before the next hurdle. I’m sure each set back was crushing but he kept his head straight to show up every day and work hard. For anyone working on a dream you know this part of the movie: The great plan that developed a 
fatal flaw and it was back to the drawing board. You got financing but the customers simply were not there. Or, You took a partner you grew to hate. Those are just a few of the things anyone working to set up a business, struggling to write a book, or develop an idea that no one at your company wants to get behind encounter on a day to day basis. Make no mistake about it… it’s discouraging.
This is where the football analogy of Malcolm Butler comes in. You have to find a way to keep going even when you think you can’t. By all means take a moment to mourn the loss of what might have been, but only a moment, and then look for things that can aid your cause and keep you striving. Sometimes that will mean taking a step back, working for others or answering the constant mental drum beat of “are you a bum or are you a star?”
So We’re down to the fourth quarter with next to no time left on the clock and you’re Malcolm Butler staring at the opposing quarterback and you begin to see something from all those formation sessions with the defensive coordinator. In that short moment my heart was broken as he intercepted the ball to give New England the win. I’m certain I’ll survive, but if it had to be anyone I was glad it was Malcolm Butler if only for the life lesson that now seems much more important that even the game itself.
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