January 9, 2009

“We are playing against our confidence.”

For the first time in “They Said It” history, I quote someone I do not know personally.  I heard this quote on the radio from someone who I admire as an athlete and professional football player.  The quote came as he prepared to face off in the AFC Championship game against a fierce divisional rival.

No doubt Ed Reed was tired of answering question after question about the Baltimore Ravens chances of winning the game.  There were scores of inquiries concerning strategy, the defensive game plan, and about the offensive weapons of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After listening to the hype leading up to the game, I was surprised to hear something that I remembered, something different than the usual pre-game hyperbole, something that stuck with me.

When asked about playing the Steelers for the third time after suffering two hard-fought loses, Ed Reed, the all-world safety, emphatically answered that it doesn’t matter who the Ravens play because in reality “we are playing against our confidence.”  Think about that statement for a minute or two.

He sums up the challenges each one of us faces every single day:  Can we win this deal?  Can I accomplish the day’s tasks on time?  Can we surpass the competition?  Essentially, we keep going because we have confidence that we are up to the challenge.  In the sports vernacular, it may say one thing on paper but you have to play it on the field.  And so it is with us.  The stronger our trust and the more faith we have in our reliability, the better our chances to win.

Happy New Year!   Here’s to an increase in courage, grit, tenacity, spunk, cool, determination, mettle, and resolution so that we never play against our confidence.