Lessons from the Super Bowl

It is an exciting week here in Miami where activities are in full swing for Super Bowl XLI, the American football championship game. Thousands of fans will crowd into Dolphin Stadium on Sunday, February 4 for the event. Millions more will watch on TV.

Since the first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, it has grown to be an incredibly popular event and the most-watched television program of the year, in part because of those great commercials that often generate more hype than the game itself.

With all the hubbub surrounding the Super Bowl, I was curious to know more about it. I "googled" Super Bowl and the next thing I knew I was on the Wikipedia website reading about its history. I found many fun facts in my stroll down Super Bowl memory lane. Here are three of my discoveries along with life lessons I extracted from them:

1. The name originally proposed for the championship was "The Big One." During discussions around naming the game, Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt jokingly referred to it as the "Super Bowl" after seeing his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball. (The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio). Hunt only meant the name to be a stopgap until a better one could be found never dreaming that it would stick and become a household name around the world.

Lesson: Don't discount an idea! How often do you have an idea that you think sounds silly or that you decide would never work without even trying it? Give your ideas a chance to germinate and see where they lead. Like Lamar Hunt, you may have a hit.

2. Videotapes of the first two games are said not to exist and to have been taped over by soap operas. In the early days of TV, broadcasts were routinely erased, mainly because nobody thought anyone would want to watch the same show again.

Lesson: Capture your successes. You don't have to video tape all of them, but acknowledge your successes, big and small. Write down 5 things you are proud of each day before you go to sleep at night. Keep a folder of clippings or other memorabilia that remind you of your successes. You may want to see them again!

3. No team has ever returned the opening kickoff or a punt for a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

Lesson: You don't have to score on the first play of the game to be a winner. Success comes by staying in the game and making the next play. Don't be discouraged if your first try fails. Just take the next step, make the next phone call, write the next letter, whatever you need to do to move toward your goal.

"Winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream." ~ Emmitt Smith