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  • Michael Edmondson

Do you realize somethings are bigger than you?


Today is September 17 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you remind yourself that somethings are bigger than yourself?”

People who navigate the chaos understand that somethings are just bigger than their personal goals and understand the adage “Commit yourself to something bigger than yourself.”

USC head coach Clay Helton is competitive and guided his team to the 2016 Rose Bowl championship.

But he also understands that somethings are just bigger than the game itself. Thanks to an arrangement with Western Michigan coach Tim Lester, Helton was able to get USC long snapper Jake Olson into the game.

What’s so special about this is that Olson is blind. Olson ran onto the field with his teammate holding his shoulder and made a successful snap for USC to kick the extra point. Olson had been a part of the USC football team for years. He worked hard and Helton wanted to give him a chance.

To make that happen Helton called Lester and offered to make a most unique deal. USC would not rush Western Michigan’s first extra-point attempt if they would not rush an extra-point attempt involving Olson.

“Coach Helton told me what the kid meant to the team, I told him we’d be happy to be part of it,” Lester said. So, after Western Michigan scored its first touchdown USC backed off. After USC scored a touchdown late in game, and up by more than 14 points, Lester kept his word. Before USC’s extra-point try, he called his defensive players together and gave them an impromptu speech. “I told them the entire situation and said, ‘You can’t touch him, you can’t yell at him, everybody get down so it looks like a football play but nobody move,’” Lester recalled. “I told them, ‘What we’re about to do is bigger than the game. This is about what kind of people we want to be, what we represent; this is bigger than us.’” And what did they say? “They said, ‘Yes sir.’” And with that both USC and Western Michigan helped provided an example of how some things are just bigger than the game.

How often do you remind yourself that somethings are bigger than yourself?

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