The Four Horsemen of Sigma Nu

Growing up, one of my favorite segments on Sesame Street was “One of These Things is Not Like the Others.” That phrase came to mind in the summer of 1988, when I found myself at the Scottsdale Princess Resort accepting the Sigma Nu National Athlete of the Year award. I couldn’t help but feel out of place among such an elite group.

As a Division III college soccer player, I wasn’t exactly the obvious choice for this honor. My journey at Mount Union College—a small school of about 800 students—was far from the glamour of Division I athletics. Through tough love, hard work, and lessons learned on the soccer field, I found personal growth and a bit of success. But being mentioned alongside athletes of such caliber? That felt like a dream. It’s why I started calling our group “The Four Horsemen of Sigma Nu.”

The company I was in? Greg Swindell, who dominated college baseball at Texas with a 1.92 ERA before being drafted by the Cleveland Indians; Tommy Vardell, who scored 37 touchdowns at Stanford before joining the Cleveland Browns; and Eli Manning, the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. And then there was me, a long-shot soccer player from a small Ohio college who’d been told that even small-school soccer was out of my reach.

Looking back, I realize how easily I could have missed this opportunity. I submitted my application almost by accident during a cold, uneventful spring break in Cleveland. With nothing better to do, I filled it out, attached a high school yearbook photo where I looked about 12, and sent it off. A couple of months later, I received the letter: I had been selected.

To this day, I believe more qualified candidates didn’t apply that year. But as Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” This experience taught me that sometimes, just taking a shot—whether it’s an application, a new skill, or a networking opportunity—can lead you places you never imagined.

So, don’t count yourself out. Take the shot. You might just find yourself in exclusive company.

We ride at dawn.

#Leadership #GrowthMindset #SigmaNu #TheFourHorsemen #TakeTheShot