Reparations, Football and Moving On... The Miami-FIU Debacle

By: Kathleen Hessert

Last season Cleve Bryant the master of all detail and logistics for Longhorns football and indispensable right arm to Coach Mack Brown suggested that I speak out about college football- that I had a unique perspective. You see I’m the mother of a former D1A football player, I’ve worked closely with some of the best programs, coaches and players of the game since 1988 and I relish NCAA Football. I love all football. I have had the privilege of being in football staff meetings of two national championship teams, been in players meetings, in locker rooms pre and post games and confidant to many coaches.

Additionally, I’ve helped football professionals out of some really sticky and into some truly wonderful situations. So people who know me ask lots of questions these days about the recent Miami- FIU on field melee. Two weeks ago they asked me about the Tennessee Titans’ Albert Haynesworth. Most thought they were asking theoretical questions. So here comes the full disclosure. I have no relationship with Miami or Florida International. That’s not the case with Albert Haynesworth. I worked with Albert to help clarify and rectify what happened on the field against the Cowboys and what he’s doing to make up for a disastrous and in his words, “despicable mistake”. That mistake through emulation may have influenced a few dozen college players who now have to regroup, re-learn and move ahead with their lives. The lesson is accountability!

Football is truly a wonderful teacher of men and of others who study it closely enough. I saw it teach my son discipline and dedication to a goal. I know of nothing shy of football that would have so motivated him. He’s intellectually gifted but would have diminished that gift just for the chance to run out on the field, sack an opponent and lead his team to victory both at the high school then college level. He played for a short time for Navy and believe me when I say the sacrifice those players make and the accountability they’re held to is unmatchable.

What’s happening lately in football is not because of football but rather in my opinion, in spite of the clear boundaries set by this incredible game. Yes it’s aggressive and certainly brutal on body and mind. But it doesn’t make people inherently violent any more than auto racing makes people speed on the highway. What those respective athletes are required to do to win on the field or the track is solely necessary within the parameters of their athletic environments.

Recruiters of the job not football kind- Wall Street executives - have said they’d take a football player from Stanford, Notre Dame or any high quality university any day over a non-athlete for very specific reasons. On the football field they’ve learned and (in their experience) are able to apply invaluable life lessons like how to get knocked down, pick themselves up and immediately focus on what’s ahead not behind. Most people in life can’t do that to the same degree. Many of us ruminate over our failings to the point of paralysis or remain stuck dwelling on the immediate past squandering valuable learning moments.

Granted, some would say the football players involved in the latest brouhahas should dwell on their mistakes for a very long time and I can’t argue that.

In sports and especially in football, people must learn to be accountable without being encumbered by failure. I believe that includes being accountable under the scrutiny of camera lights and public scrutiny instead of the shadows. Now that’s a critical lesson we can all learn from. And it’s one that’s taught on most every football field, every day.

Kathleen Hessert is the founder and president of Sports Media Challenge a training and consulting firm specializing in Reputation Management. Her clients include NCAA Football, Peyton Manning, Kasey Kahne, the Universities of Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, New Mexico, several NBA teams and ESPN to name a few. http://www.sportsmediachallenge.com/