January 28, 2009
The most unlikely Super Bowl hero
Hello my friend:
With the Super Bowl just days away, not many people give
the Arizona Cardinals much of a chance to beat the mighty
Steelers and that ridiculous defense.
So why, is such a tough group who's playing such good
football only 7 point favorites against a team that went
just 9-7 in the regular season? Why are the Vegas
odds makers so scared?
One answer: Kurt Warner.
Oh sure, Arizona has Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin,
but without someone like Warner throwing them the ball,
Fitzgerald would be like...
Well, he'd be like Randy Moss without Tom Brady... good
but not otherworldly.
If the Cards win, make no mistake... it will be because
Kurt Warner took them to the Promised Land.
Kurt Warner is often asked how he is able to stay so calm
and throw such pinpoint strikes while 2,000 pounds of mean,
strong, fast monsters are trying to turn him into a human
pancake.
(Note: In case you did not know, for quarterbacks with
more than 2,500 pass attempts, Kurt is THE most accurate
quarterback in NFL history.)
His answer: His faith.
But he's quick to point out that, no, God doesn't care how
many 3rd downs he converts or how many touchdown passes he
throws. And unlike many athletes who "get religion" only
when they need to make a play, he always credits his faith
for giving him strength to get through any challenge he is
faced with in life, both on AND off the field. It's just
that football is what most people pay attention to when it
comes to Kurt Warner.
Many people, I think, might not remember his record
shattering performance in Super Bowl XXXIV (34) against the
Tennessee Titans after the 2000 season. He was MVP of the
regular season and Super Bowl MVP, throwing for a
ridiculous 414 yards and 2 TDs.
He was asked what he was thinking with 2 minutes left and
the Rams needing to score to take the lead. The reporter
wanted to know if he was nervous.
He said that, in the grand scheme of things, considering
what he and his wife have been through, he wasn't nervous
at all.
Those "things" include:
-- His wife Brenda's son by a previous marriage, whom Kurt
has adopted, is blind and has brain damage because Brenda's
first husband dropped him when he was just a few months
old, rupturing the retinas in his eyes and nearly killing
him.
-- Brenda's parents were killed in 1996 in a tornado about
a year after they retired to Arkansas, leaving Brenda, a
single mom at the time, with two young children to take
care of by herself (and her then-boyfriend, Kurt).
Many players in the NFL have successful college careers,
get drafted right out of college and sign huge contracts
for millions of dollars.
Not Kurt.
He didn't even start at QB in college until his senior
year at little University of Northern Iowa. That year...
he was named Offensive Player Of the Year in the Gateway
conference. Ever hear of that one?
After an unsuccessful tryout with the Green Bay Packers in
'94, he got a job stocking shelves at a local Hy-Vee
grocery store. His friends thought he needed to stop this
ridiculous dream of ever playing in the NFL. Stocking
shelves, he surely must have sounded like a nut to anyone
who would listen.
But he never gave up on his dream. He got a gig in Arena
Football, playing for the Iowa Barnstormers. He was so
good, he was able to parlay his success into another gig in
NFL Europe, where he led the league in passing yards and
touchdowns.
Not bad for someone who was 3rd on the depth chart at
Northern Iowa a couple years before that...
By now it was 1998 and he finally earned a roster spot as
a backup quarterback with the St. Louis Rams. A 27 year
old rookie. But at least he WAS in the NFL. He'd made it.
In 1999, Rams starting quarterback Trent Green goes down
to injury in a pre-season game and Kurt gets his chance to
live his real dream...
He's now the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams.
Armed with faith that all things are possible, learning
and becoming better every day, he throws for over 4,300
yards and 41 touchdowns. His offense is called "the
greatest show on turf." He's voted the League MVP.
He probably could have beaten Dan Marino's touchdown
record of 48 at the time, but the coaches routinely pulled
him out after 3 quarters because they were usually so far
ahead and they didn't want him to get injured
unnecessarily. He was too good to lose.
So with the world watching on that final Super Bowl drive,
with the score tied at 16, Kurt said he remembered all that
he'd been through in life, all his challenges, all his
victories... and this just did not compare in difficulty,
he said, to the truly important challenges he faces and
overcomes in the "real" world every day.
That, my friend is perspective.
That creates confidence.
After all, he'd done this many times before, he said.
Just more people were watching now.
So with 73 yards in front of them, on first down, Kurt
took the snap and fired a strike down the right sideline to
Isaac Bruce, who zigged and zagged his way into the end
zone. Touchdown. One play.
And after one of the most exciting final two minutes in
Super Bowl history, the Rams stop a Titan drive at the one
yard line as time expired, and Kurt Warner is League MVP,
Super Bowl champion, and Super Bowl MVP...
...and one of the most famous, admired people in the world.
--
Now, for those of you who think this is a letter about
religion, it's not. Yes, it's true that Kurt Warner's
confidence stems from the fact that he believes Jesus to be
with him, guiding him, giving him strength to get through
any and all challenges. And that faith does seem to give
him the ability to achieve whatever he wants to do.
Even at 37, he is as cool, as accurate and as dangerous as
he's ever been with the game on the line. Just ask the
Eagles and the Panthers.
But for the typical person without that kind of deep
conviction and faith in the Almighty, what are you to do?
Can you achieve "all things" too?
Can you exude confidence when you are on the spot?
Can you gain the confidence to believe in and go after
your dreams no matter what it takes, no matter how long it
takes, no matter what challenges lay ahead of you, like the
most accomplished people in the world?
Can you bounce back from your worst defeats and
embarrassments to go even higher than you were before, like
the top performers in life do it every day?
Absolutely you can, if you learn how to access those
emotions.
You can, if you condition your mind to instantly see
successful images in your mind's eye instead of images of
failure.
You can, if you start talking to yourself like people who
almost always get their way, like those who can get in "the
zone" on command (like Kurt Warner does).
This might sound like bull to some people. I get
questions every day like, "How is it possible to feel
confident when I've never done something before?" Or,
"It's impossible to not be afraid... the things I'm scared
of are scary... Anyone would be afraid of them!"
It reminds me of something I was told by someone a few
years ago about lying and making up stories just to get
your way. He said, "Everyone makes up stories like I do."
So, what... I'm just supposed to... not lie? Why?" This
person just could not imagine being any different and
justified a behavior that is guaranteed to create massive
problems in every area of his life.
The point is, when you see failing as normal, and when you
expect to be afraid, when feeling confident is something
you can't even imagine, then winning is not possible...
growth is not possible... learning from mistakes is not
possible. Massive achievement is not possible. It is
impossible.
You see, Kurt Warner uses his faith in God to gain strength.
His belief is so strong, that even when he (Kurt) feels
weak or doubts his own ability, he can still do what he
needs to do because he is certain that his actions are
being supported by something far bigger than he is.
So the bottom line of this message?
Regardless of whether you gain strength from your faith in
God (like Kurt Warner) or not, in order to gain physical
and emotional power required to rise above your challenges
every day of your life, you must be able to have faith that
you can do what must be done, no matter what must be done,
whenever it must be done.
Fear creates doubt and worry.
Doubt causes procrastination.
When your mind routinely serves up failure-oriented images
of you not doing what you need to do or not getting desired
results and then loops them in a never ending movie reel,
stories like Kurt Warner's will always be someone else's
story... instead of yours.
That, frankly, is not acceptable to me. It should not be
acceptable to you. Being a fan is fun. But being a player
is a thousand times more fun.
The hardest challenges can be thrilling...
Or they can create anxiety, worry and panic.
You've almost always got choices.
So we've created two exceptional thought and behavior
modification programs designed specifically to stop the
looping of failure oriented thoughts and to condition your
mind to clearly see yourself succeeding at anything you do.
And most importantly, they are designed to get you to
follow through on those mental movies.
These two programs together, 'Releasing Fear Of Failure
Now!'
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/a/rfof.asp
and 'Supreme Confidence Now!'
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/a/confidence.asp are
helping thousands of people around the world to change life-
long failure patterns.
Feel what confidence means.
Stop getting stopped by your own fears.
Imagine how high you can go if a shelf stocker working the
night shift can become Super Bowl MVP.
The ability is inside of you.
You just need the tools that can bring it out.
'Releasing Fear Of Failure Now!' and 'Supreme Confidence
Now!'
can help you bring it out.
Get them here and be ready for those triple sessions.
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/a/rfof.asp
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/a/confidence.asp
Love,
Mike Brescia
PS: 'Releasing Fear Of Failure Now!'
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/a/rfof.asp is now 30% off
the normal price. So you've never had a better time to
shed the shackle of fear of failing than now. Go for it.
(c) copyright 2009 Think Right Now Int'l
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com
- http://www.instantinnerpower.com
Orders: 1-315-436-3057
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