New Vikings Assistant Mike Singletary Admits to Selfishness Early in Bears' Career

Mike Singletary, late of the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers, is heading to the Minnesota Vikings and has allowed a columnist to pen an introductory article about him and we find out an interesting fact; Mike Singletary was selfish early in his career.

Larry Mayer has posted an article at the Chicago Bears' website titled "Singletary says he was selfish player early in his career."

Bob Sansevere of TwinCities.com posted an article titled "Minnesota Vikings' Mike Singletary talks: Bob Sansevere listens."

The key to the interview is that Singletary is a new coach for the Vikings working with ex-teammate Leslie Frazier. However, something that comes out of it is that Singletary considered himself selfish early in his career.

Why did Singletary feel that way?

Basically the reason Singletary felt that way was he thought that no one worked harder than he did when it came to preparation. His reality was that if everyone worked out and prepared the way that he did, the Bears would win the Super Bowl.

This article rang a bell with me. I remember reading a short story in literature about a football team. The team was built around a running back who was a super-good player. The rest of the team was average. This great player would score multiple times in every game and as a result the team went to the championship game.

In the championship game this particularly team was losing 7-6 and needed a first down; they only needed 3 yards but it was fourth down. The coach knew the other team would be honing in on their star player so he called a reverse; the star back was to hand off to another back. Unfortunately the "star back" faked the handoff and kept the ball only to be tackled for a loss. The team lost as well.

The point of the story and the relationship to Singletary is no one player makes a team. In fact the Bears' Walter Payton, my favorite all-time player, was the prime example for this. The Bears didn't win the Super Bowl until he had players to help him.

How did Mike Singletary learn this lesson? Defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan had to bring him down a notch. However after that Singletary appreciated and more importantly respected his fellow players.

I like to read about Singletary's growth. I don't like to read about it going to an enemy team.

References:

Chicago Bears' Website, Larry Mayer, "Singletary says he was selfish player early in his career."

TwinCities.com Website, Pioneer Press, "Minnesota Vikings' Mike Singletary talks: Bob Sanseevre listens"