Our Name is Our Virtue

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I don’t know what to say really. 
Three minutes
to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today. 

             Now I can’t do it for you. 

Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble. 
Inch by inch
play by play
till we’re finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen 
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the sh*t kicked out of us
or
we can fight our way
back into the light. 
We can climb out of hell. 
One inch, at a time.

I’m too old.
I look around and I see these young faces
and I think
I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.

I uh….
I pissed away all my money 

believe it or not.
I chased off
anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately,
I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life
things get taken from you.
That’s, that’s part of life.
But,
you only learn that when you start losing stuff.

You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.
Because in either game
life or football
the margin for error is so small. 

I mean
one half step too late or too early
you don’t quite make it. 
One half second too slow or too fast 
and you don’t quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us. 
They are in every break of the game,
every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch.
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us
to pieces for that inch. 
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
Cause we know
when we add up all those inches
that’s going to make the fricking difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING.

I’ll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
who is going to win that inch. 
And I know
if I am going to have any life any more
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is. 
The six inches in front of your face. 

Now I can’t make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes.
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy
who will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
you are gonna do the same thing for him.
That’s a team, gentlemen
and either we heal now, as a team,
or we will die as individuals. 
That’s football guys. 
That’s all it is.
Now, whattaya gonna do?