“Are You Willing to Cross The Street?” That question came not from a leadership seminar but from our friend and colleague Ray Negron, who has worked for the Yankees for over 50 years and always brings a different point of view to our students at Columbia. The rhetorical question came not from him, but from his longtime mentor the late George Steinbrenner, and it is as valuable today as any time.
Steinbrenner, Negron said, was always willing to go across the literal street near Yankee Stadium to listen, to see what the community was actually caring about and doing. Despite all his bluster and his management style, he had tremendous empathy for those in The Bronx who supported his organization, and he gave tirelessly and often times anonymously, to those who needed help. “The Boss” was not always a great listener for his insiders, but he looked at the bigger picture and found ways to subtly lift those who needed more. Although he usually had a follow up of what they did with the help he gave, he was willing to give those a chance, even if it seemed to some in his inner circle a waste.
The willingness of all of us to cross the street and see what’s going on, physically, emotionally, mentally, is so important given where we are today. Sports can provide that dramatic salve for divergent cultures, but only if the effort is made and it is not a box check. Take a walk across the street this month. Listen and see what’s there, you can help brighten a day with a little step.
The Identity of The Athlete: This past week I received a call from an old friend, whose grandson is playing football at an elite academic, but somewhat struggling athletic, institution in one of the Power conferences. He said his grandson is thinking about joining his teammates in the transfer portal because he needs to make sure he is not missing anything. I asked him what was missing (other than winning football). The school is great, solid alumni, world class teachers, pristine setting, very good NIL cash flow, and he is on a full ride. He is not aspiring to be a professional athlete, and his choices to go elsewhere are not with schools that have a long-standing history or deep business routes…but he can maybe be part of a winning team, even one down the road where someone will say you went to x school and ended up there? WHY? I told my friend a story I heard a year ago at the SBJ Dealmakers Conference in DC. One of the speakers was former NFL star Malcolm Jenkins, and while it was nice to hear about his business portfolio, one of the biggest takeaways I had was how he was fueled to form a sense of identity of WHO he was beyond “an athlete” while still playing. Jenkins, co-founder of The Players Coalition, talked about being able to stand back and identify that he is “A leader, a Problem solver, and A storyteller” at his core. Those three prongs have motivated him through his post-NFL career and have kept him focused through many distractions. That sense of self is more important today than ever for young people, who as student-athletes are dealing with everything from Name, Image and Likeness to the whispers of the transfer portal. I raised this as we had a parallel conversation about building of identity, something that Jenkins has but many college athletes seem to be losing? So, when my friend’s grandson is done with this stage of his life, this vital stage of growth OFF the field what does he identify as? His time at ACC school? Another school? A Junior College? Who has helped him find out who he is as a person, without any consistent leadership to guide him? I don’t know the answer, but I believe it is troubling. As we see college football and all its “Fandom” play out in Bowl season, do we try, and do the institutions try, to make sure these young people…men and women…have a sense of purpose and a north star as to who they are for years beyond competing? Hard to see how that’s possible amidst chasing the shiny ring, and often times, that grass may only be green because it sits over a sceptic system.
Now I am not a parent of a young person in college athletics today who seems to feel the pressure to see what’s out there, whether they are chasing dollars or not. But what I do know is the people I want to school with wayyy back in the day remain part of my “who” today. Case in point was Monday night while at an event at the NHL Store in Manhattan. ESPN Radio was broadcasting the Michael Kay Show, hosted by one of my fellow Fordham alums…Michael Kay. It is great to immediately connect across the years…would that happen if I had left and gone to Hofstra? While some may say the portal opens doors to a wider network, your identity in those formative years in now transient, and when push comes to shove, who are the people who will go to bat for you personally or professionally. Are they people you went through the tribulations of youth and education over a fleeting period of time, or are they people you got to know extensively and learned from each other. While its true we are a collection of experiences that is now global, we still need to know who we are…and that who comes from the people you have gone through things with time and again…friends and family. Bonds last forever, and sometimes with the chasing of that shiny ring for something else, those bonds are going to be damaged.
I hope my friend’s grandson makes the right choice for the right reason, and just because he can. He won’t know what he missed just by going because its the thing today.
