Every year, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin goes home to be a part of the Hampton Roads All-Star Football Camp. It’s his opportunity to return to his roots and give back to coaches and players and allow him to impart his wisdom as a successful NFL coach.
Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp was canceled but this didn’t stop Tomlin from being a part of the event. Tomlin did an online interview with Carl Francis, Director of Communication for the NFLPA and co-founder of the Hampton Roads Youth Foundation (HRYF) and Vernon Lee, the co-founder of the HRYF.
Most of the stories Tomlin talked about are centered on how he came up and offered yet more inspiration for young people who grew up in similar situations. Tomlin also spoke about this new reality for players and coaches and addressed concerns from all involved.
We can’t fear short-term misery. We have to embrace short-term misery. It can’t be about short-term gratification. There are going to be some dark days ahead. As mentors, we that interact with people, we can’t ignore that exists. It’s the same thing I am talking to my rookies about right now. There are a lot of reasons for an NFL rookie in 2020 to fail. I am looking for guys who are looking to excel despite this. It might be setting themselves up for successful careers. It might not show up in terms of statistic in 2020.
