People Watch the Bench Warmers Too!

Early during my senior season of my college playing days I would look over little index cards before each game to calm the nerves. In some cases I was anxious about facing the opponent. In others I was not sure how much coach was planning to play me that game. The index cards had scriptures on them and all 52 principles of Championship Living that appeared in A.C. Green’s book titled Victory. The scriptures and principles on these cards were purely personal, helping me deal with my anger and depression. It was so much of a routine that I no longer realized I was doing anything out of the ordinary. I just carried the cards in my pocket with a nasty, old rubber band double-wrapped around them.
How did I know I was being watched while I read these cards? One-by-one various teammates began to ask me what was on these cards. They wanted to take a look so I would hand a few over and at that point I realized what I did mattered. We did not discuss the material and I did not become a street preacher. But I could feel some respect generated as the guys playing more minutes than me understood a little bit better what I was going through. As a senior I still wanted to play just as bad as when I was an angry freshman beating up the bleachers with my fists. The experience with my teammates and the index cards helped me to see that others observe the example rather than the words of leadership.