Reason #21

A book that absolutely, reinvigorated my love for the game, and also gave me the guiding principle upon the way Gym44 is and will always be set up.  Gym44, is a door for opportunity, But the players must be willing to run through it.  A player showing his dedication, and determination is the way a team should be built. We all know the power that comes with a triumphant story of courage, so make sure the one below is fully understood.

PLAYERS, are extensions of their coaches.  When it comes to Vince Lombardi, Paul Hornung and Bart Starr are two names that get frequently mentioned.  One went to Alabama and the other went to Notre Dame, playing for two big time schools made them very visible to NFL scouts.  But, the name Willie Wood is one that deserves just as much recognition,  during a time in which many African-Americans where denied the opportunity to play, he would NOT take No for an answer.  The book goes into detail, about the letter he wrote in 1960, asking NFL teams for a .........TRY-OUT.......gym44

And in the magical year of 1989, Willie Wood was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  As sports (especially football) attempts to head into the future, Try-Outs set up in a way for players to see them, can make for more pleasant surprises like ....WILLIE WOOD....GOOGLE His name.....for your own good.

When Pride Sill Mattered pg. 238 second paragraph

" Wood looked raw failure in the face and refused to accept it. After being shunned on draft day, he retreated to the cramped one-room studio apartment that he shared with his wife on the USC campus and typed a letter introducing himself, detailing his college record and stating that he could contribute to some team if only given a chance.  Where should he send the letter? He had already made one painful but crucial decision, offering his services as a defensive back rather than quarterback.  He studied the roster of all thirteen NFL teams, analyzing which one might need a ballhawking' saftey.  Wood had grown up in Washington D.C in the shadows of Union Station, and was a star athlete at Armstrong High near the corner of O streets NW (from where a young USC assistant named Al Davis had recruited him to junior college and then USC).  But he never considered playing for the Washington Redskins, even though they were woefully in need of defensive talent.  His hometown was still segregated, the most southern city in the league, and its owner, George Preston Marshall, was an unreconstructed racist who did not want blacks players on his team.  Wood decided to send his letter to the Giants and 49ers, which had well-established traditions of hiring black players, and to the packers.  He did not know Lombardi from Adam, he said later, but he had heard that Green Bay had a new front office and surmised that they might be interested in him........THE PACKERS WERE IN FACT THE ONLY TEAM TO RESPOND."