An Old School Coaching Lesson

Many employers can learn from the example set by an NFL coach this past season. It shows the importance of teamwork in today's workplace and how no one person can be allowed to place himself above the team, no matter what kind work the team does.

I'm not a fan of the Chicago Bears. I rooted hard for the Dolphins in 1985, the only team to defeat the Super Bowl Shuffling Bears. I thought Jim McMahon was a creep and that "The Fridge" was an overgrown, over-hyped doofus. The only saving graces to that team - the defense and Sweetness Payton (God rest his loving soul).

Saying that about the defense - let's go back to a reent weekend during the 2008 NFL season. Mike Singletary - the linebacker with the cold, hard, "I'm gonna kill that quarterback" stare. He was named "interim" coach of a team I loathe, the 49ers, but my contempt for them I will save for another time. Let's talk about Mike (who did get the job full time as Niners' coach after the season).

I gained a lot of respect over the years for linebackers who have that look about them. You know the one I mean - the one that says that he is going to eat your face off once he sacks your sorry self ten yards behind the line of scrimmage. Singletary has that look to this very day. And it was that look that I saw in the news conference after that 49ers game when he sent Vernon Davis to the locker room. Davis had thrown a bit of a tirade after being called for a personal foul. Singletary's reaction? Go to the locker room, Vern, you're done for the day. Come back when you know how to spell "TEAM" and "SPORTSMANSHIP." It chaps my hide when guys act like that, especially Davis, who Singletary himself described as typically not a problem guy.

Bravo, Mike! You did what few coaches in major sports will do these days - you sent one of your prima dona players to an early shower for not putting the team first. You have shown your team who the boss is - you. You showed them that you don't give a hoot about their big contract or their endorsements. You showed them that no one is above the sport. You showed them that the thing they should have learned in sandlot, a little thing called sportsmanship, still holds true today despite their inflated egos and their overstuffed wallets. Bravo to you - it's obvious you were paying attention when Ditka was schooling you during your NFL career.

It doesn't make me like the Niners any more than I did prior to that Sunday, but it makes me feel better to know that at least one coach on the sidelines still gives a darn about team pride. It makes me feel better to know that the players and their agents aren't intimidating every coach, GM and/or owner of major sports franchises. Mike - would you like to take on Scott Boras next? Tell Barry Bonds that we know he did it, to quit acting like he is a victim and to start acting like one of many who helped contribute to the latest round of the "Downfall of Professional Sports."

Someday I hope to have kids and I hope they have the talents I never had, one being to be good at sports. And I hope they have a coach that is able to preach the gospel of sportsmanship and team play. I hope they have someone like Mike Singletary as a mentor. Heck, I hope they can be as scary looking as Singletary too - Lord knows I couldn't look scary unless I've had the flu for five straight days.

Way to go Mike - but sorry, I still hate the Niners. Darned Dwight Clark....