How my first NFL play can help measure your Trust!

‘A person who doesn’t trust themselves can never truly trust anyone’ Cardinal de Retz

Be honest with me for a moment – What are the odds your Doctor cheated on a test in school?

Not just to pass the test, but to increase their odds of progressing in life?

How does this question make you feel about them? Whether they did or didn’t your relationship with them comes somewhat into question.

Before you judge too harshly, perhaps you should look in the mirror for a moment.

The question revolves around the enigma of trust and how a single momentary lapse of character can break that trust.

How then do you begin to build this belief within you team and have people trust you will empower the unit, not weaken it?

I began to appreciate that once I believed in my own talents as a Professional Athlete, my next responsibility was to have others believe in me as well. This simple measurement of trust meant when people saw me or my skillset, they could trust that it would improve their day or the odds of us accomplishing a task, not the latter.

In 2008, I was a rookie in Philadelphia, and it was the first day I would get the chance to lineup to become not only an Eagle, but an NFL player. After going undrafted, the odds were already stacked against me, so I know that I would receive less practice reps and that every one of my opportunities must be capitalized on.

Towards the end of my first practice, our coach finally called out for ‘Three’s!!’ Which meant the third string players would get to rotate in.

This was it, my first play as a professional athlete. Now it was still March which in the football world meant offseason and that we would not have pads on. But that was secondary as I ran out to the huddle with my Eagles jersey on and helmet strapped up.

I was convinced that this play was going to be the beginning of me defying the odds and making the team. Without pads it is hard to practice run plays, so the play call was a short pass play where I would run out into the flat.

For an undrafted player, each play is an opportunity, and this play I would prove I was fast enough to compete at this level. My speed was one of the knacks I had coming out of college, that the NFL game would be too fast for me to keep up.

I line up eager to begin proving that I was fast enough, that I belonged, perhaps a little too eager.

‘Mike is 52, Mike is 52’. The quarterback repeated as we all settled into our stances. I was so excited to have the ball snap and my career start, that my excitement got the best of me and as the QB transitioned his cadence to ‘blue 40 blue 40’ – I jumped.

One of those motions I knew was wrong as I did it, so my feet never moved, but was enough for all to see. The whistle blew before the play began, ‘False Start’ was the call and that whistle sent my heart plummeting down into my stomach.

Standing up I could already see my replacement running in from the sideline.

This play, my first in the NFL would be recorded as an ‘ME’ or mental error.

A player like me, an Undrafted free agent, in the National Football League gets a limited amount of reps to show they belong each day my first, was lost, a minus. Not only was it a negative on today, but the guy who ran in off the sideline would steal one of my reps tomorrow as well. Playtime is the currency in the world of athletes.

I quickly run back to the sideline and stand in my misery, helmet strapped tight and racing through what a bonehead I am. Then our Head Coach Andy Reid walks in front of me. The head guy had not really ever spoken to me directly, but this time his message was clear and for all to hear but for me to absorb.

‘We can’t beat ourselves out there’. Clear and concise, not the best first words your head coach could ever say to you.

In film the next day, we came to the rep where I jumped, and all my coach said in the back of the room was ‘Be a Pro.’ And we moved on.

This message was my introduction to the second factor in ‘Be a Pro’ mindset, after Confidence you must have – TRUST.

To step on the field, your teammates, your coaches, the front office, and the entire building would have to trust you will add to the victory and not distract from it.

To have trust among my team would mean they could expect me to know my assignment and complete my assignment, or they would find someone could trust to do it. Mistakes must become the outlier, not the norm, because you do not get to touch the field on gameday if you cannot be trusted!

Begin to see the relationships you currently hold, how many of them would you quantify as having ‘Trust’ be a positive factor?

In Stephen Covey’s ‘Speed of Trust’, he qualifies the two forms of trust in a relationship as: a trust Tax or a trust Dividend.

These financial terms signify if the trust is taking away from the relationship, a tax or adding to it, a dividend.

You can see the trust when a project is assigned. Does your colleague continue to check in on your progress, or do they trust that you have until Friday to complete and it will be on their desk?

When you are in a conversation with a client and a question is brought up about something that is not in your particular relationship, do they trust your advice enough to ask you for an opinion or does the moment come and go, where they will seek counsel somewhere else?

What about regarding your money, can you trust your advisor to always have your best interest first as a Fiduciary, or are there things they do not have to disclose to you?

In any relationship, there is a relationship of trust, it is up to you to identify if it is growing or detracting from the bond. This is not a factor that can be changed overnight, but one that will be built daily by staying true to your word and your principles.

Your challenge today is to look throughout your relationships and identify which are Taxes (taking) and which are Dividends (adding)?

In all things you do remember:

“When you make a commitment, you build hope; when you keep a commitment and build trust!

About The Author: Jedidiah Collins is a former NFL player, Author of Your Money Vehicle, Speaker, & CFP. He helps individuals eliminate the gap between potential and success!