Are you prepared for opportunity? The Caleb Hanie Story.

With the NFL conference championships complete from last weekend, there is plenty of discussion regarding Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler’s injury and if it should have kept him out of the game. I think the conversation is about the wrong quarterback. I was most impressed by third-string and third-year player Caleb Hanie, who nearly pulled out the game for the Bears.

Replacing second string QB Todd Collins with a few seconds left in the third quarter (and per NFL rules ensuring that he would have play the remainder of the game), Heine looked like the best Bears quarterback that day.

As the designated third string quarterback, Hanie was inactive unless injuries or quality of play called him into service. Third string quarterbacks rarely play, because if they enter the game prior to the 4th quarter, the other two quarterbacks cannot come back into the game. Hanie had played in only two games this year and thrown only seven passes. For his career, he had only played in four games, thrown 14 passes and no touchdowns. So the likelihood of him playing in the NFC Championship was pretty remote. In fact, he probably didn’t get many (if any) practice snaps with the first team during the week.

Yet when his number was called, he was ready.

He did throw two interceptions, one of which was run back for a touchdown. But he also drove the Bears down the field for a touchdown in 81 seconds after that mistake. He looked prepared and was poised on the field. Now who knows if he will ever have the chance to play as a starter or regular quarterback, but his performance made me think about the situation he was in, much like the situations we can find ourselves in.

Hanie was likely not going to get an opportunity to perform, but he must have prepared like he would have the opportunity. When Cutler went down, they turned to Collins and he was unable to move the team (and was likely injured as well). Then the coach Lovie Smith turned to the unheard of Hanie. And he was ready for the opportunity when it presented itself. Would you have prepared to be ready like he was?

Knowing that your preparation would likely not result in any chance to perform on the big stage, would you have put in the time to understand the competition and be ready? More importantly, is your business preparing like that every day for the customer or project that you don’t think you will get (or don’t even know about today), but if you do would change the game for you? I believe the saying is true: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Some would say Hanie was lucky to have such a great game in front of a national audience. I believe it was more likely about his work and preparation.

Comments

  1. ......February 2, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    I was blown away by how well he played. I have to admit, all I could think of when he first went in to play was the goofy Mr. Haney on "Green Acres" -- Wikipedia bio for Mr. Haney [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Haney_(Green_Acres)].

    I could not get that character out of my head. Then has Chicago Bears Hanie started to perform well, goofy Green Acres Mr. Haney soon left my thoughts. He validated himself -- unlike Collins. And I think you hit the nail on the head, Jeff. Hanie was prepared to play. Because of this preparation, he performed in a high pressure situation -- a great lesson for us all in business.

    A famous preparation quote, can't remember who -- “Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity”.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It is truly time to have perspective

Printed in the Business Record, December 31, 2020 [ Link ] A video has been making its way around social media  putting the current coronavirus pandemic into perspective . It shows the world from the perspective of a person born in 1900. It calls out the hardship of four wars with millions killed, the loss of life from the flu pandemic, smallpox and polio, and the suffering of the Great Depression. At the end, the video states that we don’t have much to complain about today when our biggest challenge in this pandemic is watching Netflix from our couch and ordering from Amazon Prime. The message is to be grateful for what we have even in this time – a good message, for sure. But the video caused me to think about perspective a bit in the last few weeks. I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Pat Summitt, one of the all-time winningest coaches in women’s basketball. She said, "It is what it is, but it becomes what we make of it." While the video focused on the negativ
Read more

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Image
Summers are mostly consumed with baseball for my family. Both of my sons play Little League and also on local tournament teams. I have helped coach with several of their teams over the years. Baseball is an interesting game to me – it is a team sport and an individual sport at the same time. No teammate can really help the pitcher or batter, but yet defense is clearly dependent on a team. And when you are 10 or 12 years old it is pretty easy to put pressure on yourself on the pitcher’s mound or in the batter’s box. One of my favorite encouragements from coaches (of which I have done as well) is, "Have fun out there, kid." During one game this year I wondered what that actually meant. There is the pitcher, usually struggling, out there on the mound alone. The pressure of the moment has usually caused the player to over-think, aim the ball and most often, not have the best result. Moving from that point to “fun” is a hard place to get (if you don't think so, trying &qu
Read more

It’s About More than Following the “Blue Line”

Image
28 Second Takeaway:   While the GPS is an extremely efficient tool in helping us get to where we are going, a good old paper map allows us to see the big picture. This is true in business as well. If we only rely on the technology and management tools, we’ll stay focused on the “blue line” rather than looking at the bigger opportunities that might be out there. On our driving trip across the country I have found myself in places I have never driven through – eastern Ohio, upstate New York and western Massachusetts. In these situations, I have found that Google Maps on my phone is an invaluable tool. No more squinting at a map, trying to understand if I should take I-77 or Ohio 8 to get to Canton (FYI: we are on the Russell family Hall of Fame tour – pro football in Canton, basketball in Springfield, MA, the Patriots HOF for Ben in Foxboro, and the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown). But there are situations where I have questioned the information I am getting from my phone. &q
Read more