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Jack Welch
It takes great passion to overcome insurmountable obstacles in your life. When we are passionate about our desires, it becomes much easier to go above and beyond in our actions. Being an overachiever is not just about being passionate though. A person must be adaptable and resilient in the face of obstacles.
Most of you probably do not remember Rocky Bleier. He played in the NFL during the 1970’s and was known as a tough running and blocking fullback. Very few people believed he could play in the NFL though, because he was wounded very badly during the Vietnam War.
Bleier played collegiately at Notre Dame. He served as captain and helped lead the Irish to the national championship. He was drafted by the Pittsburg Steelers. After his rookie season with the Steelers, Bleier was drafted into the Army and volunteered to fight in the war. He was assigned to operate a grenade launcher. While on patrol he was wounded in the left thigh by an enemy rifle bullet when his platoon was ambushed. While he was down, an enemy grenade landed nearby sending shrapnel into his lower right leg. His right foot was severely damaged in the blast.
Bleier could not walk without extreme pain. In addition to having a badly injured foot, he lost a lot of weight. The Steelers placed him on injured reserves hoping he could regain his strength and full use of his foot without pain. Most experts seriously doubted he would make it back to the level needed to play in the NFL.
Bleier did not listen to the experts though and made the team in 1971. Although he mainly saw duty on the special teams, he made the ball club. He was a very good special team’s player. For the next several seasons, he worked for additional playing time but was waived two different times during the process. Regardless of the struggle, he developed an off-season regimen that helped him gain weight and speed.
Finally in 1974, Bleier earned a starting spot in the Steelers’ starting lineup. Now in addition to being a great blocker, he became the Steelers’ second leading rusher to Franco Harris. In 1976, Bleier and Harris both rushed for over 1000 yards.
Bleier is a great story of an athlete that would not take no for an answer. He did not listen to medical experts tell him he could not do something he loved. He worked, persevered, and outlasted pain. He used his physical pain to motivate himself to overcome obstacles.
He played in four Steelers’ Super Bowl victories. He retired after the 1980 season with 3,865 yards, 136 receptions for 1,294 yards, and 25 touchdowns and at the time of his retirement he was the fourth leading rushing in the teams’ history.
Thought for the week,:“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” Roger Crawford
Dr. Jack Welch is an educator and college football coach. His doctorate is in educational administration, and he has been an educator, administrator, and football coach, mentoring young minds, for over 40 years. He is also the author of Foundations of Coaching. He can be reached at jackwelch1975@gmail.com.