[...]... never late to a drill, and still I did not get another chance until the fourth quarter of the last game of the season I played linebacker and made about eight tackles in twelve plays The 12 IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME coach came over to me at the end of the game and said, “I didn’t know you could play like that See you next year.” Too late I proved I could play, but I was done with football It was time... I started playing professional football I 20 IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME was with the Pirates and after the whistle was blown, they were kicking me and I asked the coach, what’ll I do? “Wait till you catch one of the outof-bounds passes after the whistle’s blown,” he said, “and then you kick him there (insert imagination) and kick him in the face and make sure everyone sees you It’ll cost the team twenty-five... share the next time they see each other? What can NASCAR’S Jimmie Johnson and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana tell you about quitting? The answers to these questions and many more will be answered in the upcoming pages It’s How You Play the Game was not written to teach you how to fight like Lennox Lewis, run like Gale Sayers, or focus like Gary Player It was written to give you an insider’s view of how these... was written to give you an insider’s view of how these great athletes played the game and how playing the game the way they did impacted their lives Perhaps the lessons they learned can impact yours, too A word about how this book is constructed All the italics are my comments and questions With the exception of the historic people in the book—Richard Nixon, John Wayne, and George Patton, for instance—... have become the well-rounded businessman and person he is today The inspirational and instructional stories in It’s How You Play the Game can give parents a valuable resource to fall back on when your kid isn’t playing enough, or playing well, or playing hard, or wants to quit the game This book can also teach you how to relate to your child if he or she is making every all-star team on the planet,... all, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game —BRIAN KILMEADE INTRODUCTION 3 “Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine, Let every game s end find you still upon the battling line; For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game. ” From the poem “Alumnus Football” by Grantland Rice, 1941... never taken the time to learn how to use my other hand HIGH SCHOOL I went to Roosevelt High School in Chicago, and I have to say I put the team on the map They had not won much until I got there, but once I 24 IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME did the team started to soar My freshman year we went undefeated, and then we started playing big-time schools It was great for me because I played three different positions... IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME bounding records in the tournament, and my life changed I was recruited from all over the country, but I only wanted to go to West Virginia University, so that’s where I went What mattered to me most was going out to that dirt court, imagining hitting the last shot, playing as if I were on every team, playing every position on the court I wanted the ball at the end of every game. .. coaches, and general managers of all time He’s another example for those who think you can make it on talent alone It’s all about the practice time alone and the intensity you show to make yourself better If Jerry West says he learns about life and sports every day, don’t you ever think school’s out and that you know enough 18 IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME BYRON “WHIZZER” WHITE ★ ASSOCIATE SUPREME COURT... but that wasn’t the case It was more about me just being a part of something It was always about the team If we lost and I played 8 IT’S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME well, there was nothing good about that The main reason I liked college was because I loved the coaches and they loved me back In the pros my coach, Chuck Noll, was a tough love kind of guy, and I couldn’t handle it early with the Steelers SUCCESSFUL . give you an insider’s view of how these great athletes played the game and how playing the game the way they did impacted their lives. Perhaps the lessons. heroes works because the era, the sport, and the place do not matter. What does matter is the way they played the game and how they acted and reacted