It was fun reminiscing with Roger Staubach about the 70’s and the competition between our teams as we were being interviewed for this month’s cover and accompanying article.

In between stories and questions asked, we briefly touched upon leadership and the impact the military service had on our careers.

Roger of course was a Navy Academy graduate and spent four years as an officer. I was drafted and spent two years as an enlisted grunt, but I think the lessons we both learned ultimately served us well in our lives.

This past August marked 40 years since I was lying in a hospital bed in Tokyo, Japan. The pain was a constant reminder of what had happened days before and every detail and emotion of that firefight, which ultimately put my life on another path, was seared into my mind.

One thing I learned, despite the fact that I only put two years in the military, is that those two years have forever altered my life. They were pivotal, because all I learned prior had set a foundation for what I was to experience in the military. What I learned in the military became a spring board for the rest of my life.

Parallel to my formal education was an informal education taught on the playing fields of my youth, and then later within the confined structure of organized sports. As one progressed in the athletic arena, it then became structured. You had coaches and rules. You started to learn about the game and what it took to win. You learned about hard work, practice, and discipline. You drilled and drilled and drilled, until the play became second nature. Coaches yelled, screamed, made you do push ups and along the way, you got better. You learned about teamwork, commitment, and discipline.

The one thing 16 years of Catholic education taught me was to learn how to pray. If you prayed long and hard enough, your prayers would be answered. So I prayed; for sick days, no homework, snow days, no practice. I prayed to win, not get hurt, to pass a test. Sometimes I prayed just to make sense of the changing world around me.

My draft notice came on a Wednesday. I was a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers. We were getting ready to play our 12th game of the 1968 NFL season. By Friday I was on my way to the Induction Center at Fort Jackson, S.C. I ended up at Fort Gordon, Ga., for Basic and AIT. Needless to say, my life was turned upside down. I was now in a reaction mode. I prayed I would survive.

What got me through was the simple fact that I was here before. Every training camp I had attended and every practice I went through took over. The basics were the same: tear down, build up, learn the fundamentals, understand your role and work as a team.

Hopefully, you have been prepared well enough to understand the plan and what your particular assignment might be. But the real skill comes from your ability to adapt and make adjustments – the difference between success and failure, between good and great.

What I learned from my military experience that carried over into my professional career is that success depends on having the right people in place. That ineffectiveness is a recipe for disaster. That football is a game; war is about life or death. I will be forever proud to have served our country. We wear a common badge of valor and like my fellow teammates we will be forever linked together. 

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