They are saying in case you feed a person a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Train a person to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. However what occurs when that man you taught to fish goes on to grow to be the best fisherman within the historical past of the ocean?
What if that younger man’s each waking hour is consumed by being the most effective, at all times working and striving for that subsequent fish — the subsequent large one?
It’s every thing he’s ever needed. He’s now not hungry. He’s wholesome and blissful, and all these omega-3 fatty acids make his hair shimmer within the daylight. He’s profitable. After which in the future, whereas he’s strolling right down to the docks, he notices a child hanging out close to the place the previous males mend their nets. He’s not a lot to take a look at — he’s scrawny and hungry — however there’s a look in his eye, a glance the person is aware of all too effectively.
This child is the subsequent one. The one whose large catch will dwarf any this fisherman might hope to hook. At that second, he sees his life come full circle — he thought his objective was to be the most effective fisherman, however that was solely a part of his story.
Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce sounded a bit like our previous fisherman on Monday night on the opening evening of Tremendous Bowl LIX in New Orleans when he was requested about his motivation as he and his teammates embark on a quest to grow to be the primary staff within the historical past of the NFL to win three consecutive Tremendous Bowls.
“Early on in my profession, I actually needed to be generally known as the best to ever do it,” mirrored Kelce. “I believe that motivation has modified to only, you recognize, create reminiscences, create an enduring impression on the communities that I’m in, and alter the sport. I believe that’s going to be one thing I can actually dangle my hat on.”
Kelce’s impression of the neighborhood is deep and impactful.
Whether or not or not it’s Ignition Lab, which is a STEM program he funded by means of his “87 and Working” Basis, or Operation Breakthrough, which is a neighborhood non-profit he works intently with, Kelce credit all the great he’s been in a position to do in the neighborhood to the great luck he needed to be drafted by the group that chosen him.
“I’ve a lot love for Kansas Metropolis’s neighborhood, and I’ve been so lucky,” Kelce defined. “Kansas Metropolis drafting me— [they] make it an initiative to get their gamers and get the group [out] in the neighborhood to assist out… I’ve actually taken that and needed to present again to the neighborhood in ways in which have modified youngsters’ lives eternally.”
However don’t anticipate Kelce to hold up his fishing pole simply but; he says he nonetheless has a number of soccer left in him. When he was requested the place he sees himself in three years, he stated he expects to nonetheless be chasing his white whale throughout the deep blue sea of the gridiron.
“The place will I be in three years? Oh, man, I don’t know. Hopefully nonetheless taking part in soccer. I really like doing this. I really like coming in to work day-after-day. I nonetheless really feel like I bought a number of good soccer left in me.”
However father time is undefeated, and in some unspecified time in the future, Kelce is aware of his time will come to hold them up and stroll away from the battlefield that etched his identify in historical past. When that point comes, he’s prepared for the subsequent chapter — no matter that appears like.
“I’ve been setting myself up for different alternatives in my life, and that’s at all times been the objective, understanding that soccer solely lasts for therefore lengthy, you bought to discover a method to get into one other profession, into one other occupation. And I’ve been doing that in my offseasons.”
However at present is just not the day that he walks away from the battle that has formed him, from the ache that has hardened him and given him an unbreakable resolve.
In the present day, he says that in three years, he nonetheless plans to be chasing that subsequent fish.
“I plan on being a Kansas Metropolis Chief and taking part in soccer.”
