At the most basic level, to succeed means to achieve the goals that a person or organization has set for themselves. But how is success measured when you never had clear goals to begin with? I was an ISFL rookie who quite frankly had never anticipated that I would have a career in professional football. I didn't know what to expect; I didn't even know if I'd be able to make a roster. My goal was to put in as much time and effort as I could, and to be the best player that I could possibly be. But would my best be good enough? For most of the season, I wasn't so sure that it was. I was constantly a step or two behind the play, constantly out of position, looking lost in the game film. But I kept after it. I went hard on every rep in practice, and in these last few weeks I've really surprised myself with what I've been able to achieve. I still question sometimes whether this is real, or if I really belong. But with the ISFL Combine and Draft fast approaching, I think I'm finally playing well enough to draw some positive attention from the ISFL scouts. I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic and not to get too excited; there's a lot of really great players in this draft who'll be coming off the board ahead of me, and that's OK! I plan to just keep doing what I've been doing all along; focus on the job, work hard, and be the best version of myself every day. As long as I can succeed at those three things, I think all the other forms of success that are out there to be achieved might eventually come along with them.
There's always the kind of success that doesn't appear on the field too, the kind of success I've been blessed to enjoy with the Norfolk Seawolves in this my rookie season. We haven't won a lot; if we can put together another improbable win over the league-leading, defending champion Minnesota Grey Ducks, we'll finish with 4 wins on the year. More likely we'll finish with just 3 wins. But it was incredible to see this team pull together in the locker room. This group is relentlessly positive, always building each other up, even when we're getting mauled. We never stopped playing with fire and heart, whether we were up by two scores or down 35-0. But I think anyone in that locker room would tell you the season was a success. Even the losing had a role to play, since it brought us together and made us stronger as a team. Norfolk had a big rookie class this year, and we've all really grown together as players and people. There's a real sense that next year in Norfolk could be very special. But even if it's not, as long as we can keep up the energy and enthusiasm, we'll be a successful bunch!
There's always the kind of success that doesn't appear on the field too, the kind of success I've been blessed to enjoy with the Norfolk Seawolves in this my rookie season. We haven't won a lot; if we can put together another improbable win over the league-leading, defending champion Minnesota Grey Ducks, we'll finish with 4 wins on the year. More likely we'll finish with just 3 wins. But it was incredible to see this team pull together in the locker room. This group is relentlessly positive, always building each other up, even when we're getting mauled. We never stopped playing with fire and heart, whether we were up by two scores or down 35-0. But I think anyone in that locker room would tell you the season was a success. Even the losing had a role to play, since it brought us together and made us stronger as a team. Norfolk had a big rookie class this year, and we've all really grown together as players and people. There's a real sense that next year in Norfolk could be very special. But even if it's not, as long as we can keep up the energy and enthusiasm, we'll be a successful bunch!