35 freshman, perseverance and a special teams captain

I remember when I first arrived at Lafayette there were 35 of us new freshman, and we each thought we were awesome. I mean, why wouldn't we, we were 'the man' in our own little world of high school football. Some were All-Conference, others All-State, others All-Universe.

It's funny though, at first glance, some of the guys you thought were going to be total animals weren't (no, no...no names, we're all brothers), and others you thought didn't have a chance. We all did it: 'He's a running back?? C'mon!' or 'He's an All-State quarterback, c'mon!'

We all did it. They probably looked at me and said 'that midget plays fullback? what the hell?'

All kidding aside, we had no idea what we were in for.

Some of these 'big-time' guys quit after the first week, or unfortunately became injured, and had to end their career early. This was so common, and sad, because guys you loved playing with no longer could. These were your brothers, and there was a sense of loneliness when some of your best friends had to disengage from the team.

We joined, and the team the year before was 2-8. We had a long uphill battle to gain respect again in the Patriot League. To add to that, we hadn't beat Lehigh in close to 7 years. Lafayette was, for all intensive purposes, the red-headed step child of the Patriot League (sorry Brungo, ha).

I remember after a few days of camp, all of us 35 came together in the basement of a dorm to proclaim what football meant to us, and what our goals were as a group. Some comments were funny, some were serious, some were downright moronic, but at the end of it all, we had all become closer because of it. I look back on it now, and think of how much that set the foundation of the kind of class we were going to be. Sadly enough, not everyone in that room made it all four years, but the guys who had to hang up the cleats, always remained, and still do, apart of the brotherhood that was established that night.

We went on that year, and ended up beating Lehigh. I remember coming out to 'Lose Yourself' by Eminem (it had just come out), with screaming fans going crazy. I had never been so pumped to play a game, that I actually didn't play in (huh?). Well, most of us 35 were third-string, and on practice squad. Its a long journey to the top, but we eventually got there.

We moved onto Sophomore year, and some of the 35 began to see playing time. It was exciting! We were always so proud of each other. Whether it was one person getting some snaps, or another making a tackle, we took great pride in seeing one another represent our class so well. We had some heavy-hitters on defense who made an immediate impact on the team. The cool thing here is that we started to grow confidence in ourselves as a class, that we really could have an impact on this team.

Come Jr. year, many of us had now solidified our spots on the team. Some were heading into their first or second year of starting, and because of the commitment shown in the first 2 years by our class, we had the respect of the seniors ahead of us. They knew we were in it to win it, and as group. We had some standout guys, but what I think what defined us 35 was our unity, commitment to one another, and determination to make our mark.

I think that's what led us to winning our first Patriot League Championship our Jr. year. The first one in almost 10 years at Lafayette, and it felt so amazing. It was an amazing team effort, that led to an amazing team result.

We're now seniors, and have the bullseye on our backs. It's great to think about it. We went from the dud of the league, to the team to beat. The 35 had a big reason to do with that. With the graduation of some key players from the year before, we had the odds stacked against us. We came into the year as a good team, with some very solid players who stood out in their own way, but no one person who was going to make it our break it for us as seen sometimes with teams. If we were going to do it, we were going to do it as a team. The season was long, but we remained on top of the league going into our final game against Lehigh. We played them tough, though the game was slipping away. We had just a couple of minutes left, and had to drive close to 70 yards to score. 1st down, nothing, 2nd down, nothing. 3rd down, nothing. We still have 70 yards to go, and there's only a minute left, and it's 4th down. We had no magic up our sleeves. It all came down to this. The 35 that met in the basement of the dorm that one night, were faced with being the leaders who could pull our team through in one play that would define our 4 years, whether we liked it our not.

Hike! Skirts one sack, skirts the next sack, in desperation, he lofts the ball in the air.....it can't be, an open player down the field, and IT'S CAUGHT, IN THE ENDZONE!! THE LEOPARDS ARE ON TOP, WITH 30 SECONDS TO GO. COULD THIS BE?!?!?'

From that moment on, it was validated, the 35 were defined by winning. Lafayette went on to win another championship the year later, however haven't seen one since.

It's bittersweet, though. The 35 soon went off on their own paths. Some into the business world, some went back to school, but a lucky few were able to take their play to the next level.

Some went on to different feeder leagues such as European football, arena football, though a couple of them got a shot at the NFL. One went to camp, and decided he had enough and wanted to get into business. The other went, and got cut. He wasn't ready to pack it in though. It was just like him to not quit. That's what the 35 represented.

He didn't take no for an answer. He went to Europe to sharpen his skills, only to come home and get another crack at the NFL. Did I mention, he relented to become the NFL Europe Defensive Player of the Year? Well, he did.

He came home, and bounced around a little bit, until he found a home on the Buffalo Bills. There, he persevered, and became apart of the 53 man roster! What an achievement in of itself. He committed himself, and with the same determination we had as the 35, he became Special Teams MVP.

As in the NFL, there is a lot of churn, though the next season he found himself on the Cleveland Browns. Not the best team, though with his dedication and commitment, not only was he a vital part of the Special Teams unit, he became All-Pro! Are you serious? From dorm room, to hail mary vs. Lehigh, to Pro Bowl, albeit from Lafayette. The odds stacked against him, he found a way, and persevered.

Come 2011. Again, with the churn of the NFL, he was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers, under the new leadership of Coach Harbaugh, and became not just a leader and vital piece for special teams, but a leader and vital piece for the team. He has built a presence about him with the phrase 'LIVV' and helped lead his team all the way to the NFC Championship. They respected his work ethic, and contributions so much, that when the game went to overtime, he was there, in the middle of the field, representing his unit, as the Special Teams Captain. What an honor.

With that, Blake, you continue to carry the spirit of the 35. Guys who had the world stacked up against them, though continued to fight, prevailing as champions....just as you continue to do.

every single men's and women's team in hey nelly? c'mon!

For those of you that know me (well, I guess that's anyone who has read this blog!), know I've been working on something I truly believe can have an amazingly positive impact on people's lives. Teams to me are very emotional and intimate places where people come together to achieve spectacular things, as well as share with each other their ups and downs, their wins and losses, and share in sacred place they have created; one rule: you can only join if you go through the same sacrifice. It's not a wide-open world. It's the world of men and women respecting themselves, and one another, and earning that right to share in on the ride.

We have the challenge of manifesting this through technology, though we're not going to stop until we do. The human element is so real, too important, and at the core of who we are. Yet, technology today is truly stripping us of these interactions. Our phone-conversations have turned into text messages and email. Me keeping up with old friends is secretly stalking them on Facebook and perusing through their pictures. There is just so much going on. This is just weird, and yet no one seems to have woken up from the nightmare, and probably never will.

I like pictures, too, but do you see how me just looking at your pictures and not actually interacting with you, goes against our desire to be in relation with one another? I mean, am I way off base?

It's hurtful to see so much of our generation just floundering aimlessly. No one cares, and with that, people have lost themselves. I don't think everything will be solved with what we're trying to do, but with our focus at Hey Nelly, we're going to target teams, and try to manifest a team experience online. I know people want this, because in the real-world, teams are all we have: families, sports, work, church, and on and on. These are all teams of people, yet, technology treats them all the same, and as individuals.When they're not.

We are out to change that, and will.

To shift gears, I've been really impressed with the Entrepreneurial spirit of some of the more recent graduates - people from 2008 and after.

In fact, one young man just made a huge difference for us here at HN.

Over the past couple of months, I've been manually putting in teams into Hey Nelly...one at a time. It usually went: College/University --> Gender --> Sport x 4,000 teams. This was eating into my personal life, my time with my family, weekend time, time at night, and on and on. Frankly, there was no way I was going to stop....I couldn't. This is too important. So, I just kept plugging away, day after day, night after night.

I reached out to a buddy who is a VP of Engineering at a cool startup in Boston, and he's been a great mentor and person of trust as I continue to build out Hey Nelly's platform. He invited me to their Christmas party, though I couldn't make it. By this point, I really did need the help of getting these teams in there. So, I asked if he knew anyone, and he pointed me to a young guy who has managed to graduate college in 3 years.

We grabbed lunch, and I was just impressed with this person's ability to achieve so much with what he had. I admire that in anyone: using your gifts to the fullest.

We talked, and immediately we had needs he could solve. The funny thing is, he solved one of them in 9 hours. Found a way to create an automated system that learned what teams were at what school's, and built it into Hey Nelly. Are you serious? I could probably build 250 teams in 9 hours. They built 30,000.

I'm sharing this story because of what I thought was near impossible, became possible. I just reclaimed my weekends, my nights, and some of the valuable personal time with my family (though, of course being a startup, it just accelerates other projects that were probably on hold eating into that time).

Let me repeat: what most thought was near impossible, became possible. And, this is just the start. It was with teamwork and collaboration that this seemingly insurmountable task for one, became an easily achievable task for another. This also proves one man's weakness is another man's strength. Always deploy this within your teams.

This reflected some of our core values at Hey Nelly: push the envelope, never quit, come together, overcome and achieve.

Having every team in Hey Nelly reflects that. We will achieve what we've set out to do: leverage the power of team through technology.

Every single men's and women's team in Hey Nelly? Yes. And more to come.

the forming of new years resolutions....

Alright, alright, so it's January 3rd, and 2012 is here to stay.

I had a great Christmas break. We went on a little family vaca, I read a few books, slept-in a little here and there, worked out in the warm sunshine, rode waves in the crystal blue ocean, and ate like a slob (I'm still hurting).

Whenever I have time away, I get a little carried away with thoughts and goals. Because of the spare time, I start to remind myself of allll the things I want to get done and achieve in the new year. Stop doing this, start doing that, do more of this, do less of that. You get the picture. Did you have the chance to reflect?

I then sit on these things for a few days before I determine which ones I really want to focus on. Which are ultimately going to get me to where I want to get to. I try to stick to 3-5, but preferably 4 (hehe). I'll do 5 if one of the goals is just too much to pass up!

From there, I write them down, put the notebook away (until I look at it again the next day), and begin making changes (why do we have to change to be better, and live a more full life, ahh (sigh/hoh-hum). Because nothing stays the same!

As I start making these changes, I look back at previous years, and give myself sort of a grade. One year might be a C+, the next an A-, but what it all boiled down to was decisions I made or didn't make throughout the year, and ultimately where they led me. Some into a crappy job, more debt, and more stress, and some into a cool job, less debt, and a happier life. I prefer the latter, so I try and replicate and build on the things I did well, and improve on the things I didn't do so well. I need a straight 'A' dammit!!

From there, I start to try and identify things I can surround myself with to help me achieve these goals. Maybe there are books, re-kindling old friendships, reaching out to create new friendships with smarter, better, faster people than me (that's how you get better, surround yourself with people better than yourself! It rubs off, and then you move onto the next group of geniuses, and make yourself available to maybe someone that was in your shoes a year or two ago. One big happy circle.)

I then identify what things in my current situation are helping or hurting me. Maybe it's diet or sleeping habits, frequency of exercise, faith and prayer, being prompt or not so prompt, and then shaving some of these things off, or building them up.

From there, the ball drops, and my reflection process now becomes my intended way of life for the new year.

As I write this, like I said, it's January 3rd, 2012. I'd like to pose a few questions for us all to consider:

1. Have you already given up?
2. Do you mean to live this intended way of life, or are you just saying it?
3. What's your grade so far?

So, in looking back at previous years, and in the years I was more satisfied with my performance than not, there were two major underlining things that hit me, that if I can just stick to these two, the year's outlook will turnout as planned if not better:

1. Action
2. Daily accountability for my own results

It's not that I don't come into the year with the best intentions, but if I don't act upon them and hold myself accountable, then you might as well take a nap and wake up Jan. 1, 2013, because this would've been a wasted year, and maybe you can try again then. This goes for you and me alike.

Anything else on top of this is just hot air. Such as, "I want to be stronger." "I want to be more respected." "I want to find what I'm really passionate about." "I want to do more community service and help others." "I want to educate myself." "I want to be more resilient and not give in when things get tough." "I want to pay my bills on time for once!" Guess what, none of this happens without a little thing called: Action (Def: an act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity, thus choice). And it doesn't improve without a little thing called: Accountability (Def: responsible to someone (yourself) or for some action; answerable to your own results.)

This doesn't start March 2nd, or July 15, it starts now. Give yourself a chance. Why go another year feeling like a loser (though you may be very successful to the outside world, but it's how you feel), if it's just as simple as starting today. And then worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. And then the day after that. It's like when I first started lifting in our family basement. I couldn't bench the bar, so I did pushups. Eventually, that got me strong enough to do the bar. From there, I would add weight to each side, until finally, I was pushing up multiples of my own body-weight. If I tried to do multiples of my own body-weight right away, I probably wouldn't be typing right now (because I would've been crushed).

I read a really cool book recently that my brother Pete gave to me for Christmas, by Marcus Aurelius, a well-known emperor of Rome (he wasn't the wimp in the movie Gladiator. Different guy). He named many people who were his mentors and figures that he looked up to and interacted with. One of the things that stuck with him most, and coincidentally stuck with me most while reading his book, was advice that his Grandfather, Verus (meaning 'Truth'), had given to him, and something I will leave you with:

"It is up to you!"