NFL Health Playbook will feature a guest columnist every week, each with a different viewpoint of player health and safety from the youth level to pro football.
By Chris Golic, NFL Health Playbook columnist
Character (noun) -- Moral or ethical quality. *Qualities of honesty, courage or the like; integrity.*
The 2016 NFL Draft in Chicago gave 253 young men the opportunity to continue their football careers in the NFL. During the months preceding the draft, each of the 32 teams spent countless resources looking at the physical abilities and past behavior of every prospect. In addition, they also were trying to determine the character of each of the players they were interested in drafting.
Character is the one component of the player evaluation that is hard to quantify because it is not easily measured like a vertical jump, bench press or other football statistic. Still, it is perhaps the most significant indicator of predicting success or failure in a demanding environment such as the NFL. Character matters and it's too often overlooked. Until recently, there seemed to be a sliding scale for what was tolerated when it came to character in relation to a player's talent. Finally, though, there seems to be a strong emphasis on this piece of the puzzle, which is a positive development.
The NFL and United Way unveiled a program called "Character Playbook" last week. It's a digital learning program that has been implemented in 15 Chicago-area schools and 14 other NFL team markets. It will eventually reach all 32 NFL cities. The program is tech savvy and focuses on teaching young people how to get along and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships. The playbook program is a great tool to help adolescents develop values and understand the impact their actions have on others, whether it's a family member, friends or complete strangers.
By the time players reach the NFL level, their values and behavior have basically been shaped and changing them at that point is difficult. As a society, we need to focus on working with children during their formative years to shape their character and guide them in learning to make good choices. The program can have a significant impact not just on future NFL players but on all of our young people -- and that's a great thing.
Based on my experience working with the Heads Up Football program, I would love to see the "Character Playbook" become a part of the HUF/flag football programs so it can reach children in cities that do not have NFL teams. The HUF/flag programs have millions of athletes playing under its guidelines, so its impact could be far reaching. It would also be great to see other youth sports governing bodies adapt their own version of the playbook as well.
Sports has the ability to touch the lives of young people, so why not use it to have a positive impact on children every time we can? A program like the "Character Playbook" is a terrific way to start a dialogue with young people about issues that are affecting them on a regular basis, creating a positive impact on their character growth. We need to focus on both the physical and social development of our children in a world that is becoming increasingly more complicated for them to navigate.
Christine Golic is the NFL's Consultant on Youth Football and a member of the Heads Up Football Advisory Committee. Golic is the wife of Mike Golic, a nine-year NFL veteran and co-host of ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning," and mother of two sons who played college football at Notre Dame and a daughter who is a swimmer at Notre Dame.
