Stats are well and good, but players make the plays

The world of sports is saturated with stats. Stats about what players have done in certain situations, stats about completion percentages and batting averages, stats about how many times a team has ran this play on this down or converted this drive into a touchdown, stats about how often a coach gets doused with gatorade, and the list goes on and on and on. Stats are a great way to measure the ‘success’ of a game or team and we used stats often on our college team.

As an offense, our 3rd down conversion percentage was important, as well as our running average and scoring in the redzone. The turnover ratio and total yard comparison could usually indicate how the game was won and what might have made the difference.

But what I realized after reading those stats and hearing the reports is that during the game, in the intensity of each play, you’re not worried about stats or percentages, you’re not thinking about how many times you’ve converted on third down before this or if you’re going to score in the red zone. Instead, you’re focused on performing on that play to the best of your ability. Statistics might reflect the overall flow of a football game, but it is the every play effort of an athlete that determines the success of a team.

Life is lived the same way. You can look back on your life and overanalyze it with statistics. What kinds of grades did you get, where’d you go to college, what is your salary, what position do you have in your company and where are you headed. But we still have to live one day at a time. We can’t live it any faster than that and I don’t think I’d want to. It is the play of everyday that changes our lives, the effort to be the best person today that you can be. That is all that matters. Everyday is new, everyday an opportunity to live a life of honor, love and success. Live today to its fullest.