Grueling football practices don’t simply make you a better athlete. Someday, they might help you save lives. “My football career was the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” says Captain Brandon Godsey of the Ohio National Guard, who was a standout cornerback at Miami University. “Obviously, it helped me out physically, but more so, it’s the mental discipline that carries over. There were a couple missions in Iraq when everything was breaking down. But through football, I learned how to keep a cool head and complete the mission.”
Being disciplined means being mentally tough enough to carry your team through difficult points in the season. To toughen up mentally, Godsey suggests focusing on the Seven Army Values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. He says, “You have to have every single one of those values, on the football field and in combat. If you don’t, you’re going to be the weak link in the chain.” And weak links usually don’t get on the fi eld, for good reason.