[S-Dubb]

Link: Bryan Thomas’ Wake Up Call
Posted on November 17th, 2008 by Bassett Rich Cimini of the Daily News had an excellent article in yesterday’s paper about Bryan Thomas and he re-dedication to be the best player he could be this year for the Jets, for himself, and for his family.

The turning point in Bryan Thomas’ career occurred last Feb. 28 at 12:42 p.m. The moment was so profound that he decided to make it indelible. He typed up the exact time and date, made a printout and taped it inside his locker at the Jets’ facility. He also made a smaller, laminated version, which he keeps inside his wallet. …

“It inspires me,” the veteran linebacker says.

It’s so deeply personal that Thomas won’t reveal too many of the particulars, except to say he was in his living room, watching football highlights on ESPN. Suddenly, he was overcome with shame, which turned to anger, which turned to determination.

… Thomas … started thinking about how he had disappointed his hard-working father, who went into the Alabama coal mines 33 years ago and came out with a metal rod in his back and a new titanium knee. Stanley Thomas worked 14-hour days to support his family, always flirting with potential tragedy in the infamous Jim Walter No. 7 mine in Tuscaloosa City.

So it all hit Bryan at once - the guilt, the embarrassment, everything. It hit him so hard that he got emotional. At that moment, he decided enough was enough.

“I thought about how last season went and how I couldn’t let something like that happen again,” he says, reflecting on 2/28/08. “I decided at that moment that it had to be different, that it would be different.”

[SecondHandJets]

I think it's heartwarming when grown men who get paid millions to play a game 5 months a year decide to actually apply themselves. This is a true after school special, Disney movie in the making.