Character & Team Development

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. — Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president (1809-1865)

What is Character?

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. — Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights leader (1929-1968)

The Falcon Football program understands that as our young student-athletes leave Durham Jordan and head off to the next chapter of their young lives it will be imperative that they bring with them the fruits of their educational experience as well as an understanding of concepts such as Character and Team.

Merriam-Webster denotes character as "moral excellence and firmness."

The development of a sound character is an everyday job, requiring vigiliance from all those that have the privilege of taking part in the Falcon Football program. Developing character is not something that is realized overnight, but rather through continued persistence towards a goal. This is a fact relevant to each of us. This road is not an easy road, but most certainly a road worth travelling.

Character, not circumstance, makes the person. — Booker T. Washington, American educator and civil rights activist (1856-1915)

Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character. — Albert Einstein, Swiss-American mathematician, physicist and public philosopher (1879-1955)

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. — Theodore Roosevelt, American adventurer and 26th president (1858-1919)

If we want our children to possess the traits of character we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are and why they deserve both admiration and allegiance. Children must learn to identify the forms and content of those traits. — William J. Bennett, author and former U.S. Secretary of Education (b. 1943)

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher and poet (1803-1882)

What a man’s mind can create, man’s character can control. — Attributed to Thomas Edison, American inventor (1847-1931)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. — Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker and author (1880-1968)

Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses and avoids. — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322 B.C.)

Character is much easier kept than recovered. — Thomas Paine, British-born American political activist (1737-1809)

What about TEAM?

Critical to the concept of Falcon Football is the concept of team! Team means not one, two, a few or some, but quite simply ALL. Falcon Football is a family as well as a team. Success or demise in football is primarily about the team concept.

Unlike many other sports that compose a team, multiple players working toward a common goal, football harnesses both this concept as well a more cerebral concept of team that mandates that the man next to you pull his weight in order for another to meet his goal and thus for the team to meet their goal. In many other team oriented sports, single individuals based on sheer power, speed, agility and knowledge can in many cases dominate a game with little assistance from those around them. Although this individual is playing with teammates, he is the team. The support of football demands that this is rarely the case. No matter the power, speed or agility of the receiver, he can't succeed without someone with the ability to throw him the ball. Likewise the quarterback can't succeed in getting the ball to a receiver (no matter all of his individual talents) without help from an offensive line and running backs making the appropriate blocks in pass protection. These ideas are seen over and over again in the game of football.

In short, Team and Football are synonymous with one another. As our young student-athletes leave Durham Jordan to head off to the next chapter of their lives we feel it important that they begin to understand how these team concepts are evident in other aspects of their lives not simply associated with sports.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970) -- People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.

Joe Paterno -- When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.

Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach -- All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.

Paul Bear Bryant -- In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first-ahead of personal glory.

Bud Wilkinson, football coach (1916 ) -- If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970) -- Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

Henry Ford -- Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970) -- Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another…

Coach Dean Smith to Michael Jordan in his freshman year at UNC Michael, if you can't pass, you can't play.

Coach Phil Jackson Chicago Bulls The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team.

Michael Jordan -- Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970) -- The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

THE BOTTOM LINE

FACE IT, nobody owes you a living…
What you achieve, or fail to achieve in your lifetime,
Is directly related to what you do or fail to do.
No one chooses his parents or his childhood,
But you can choose your own direction.
Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome,
But, that too, is relative to each and every individual.
NOTHING IS CARVED IN STONE!
You can change anything in your life
If you want to change it badly enough.
Excuses are only for losers!

Those who take responsibility for their actions,
Are the real winners in life.
Winners meet life challenges head on
Knowing there are no guarantees, and give it all they've got
And never think it's too late or too early to begin.
Time plays no favorites,
And will pass whether you act or not.
Take control of your LIFE,
Dare to Dream and take risks...
Compete!
If you aren't willing to work for your goals,

Don't expect others to.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!"

~ Anonymous
(obtained from the University of Arizona Athletic Site
and their C.A.T.S [Commitment to an Athlete's Total Success] Program)