Football season is almost here. Fulton County invited a special guest, former UGA and Cleveland Brown player Mohamed Massaquoi, to motivate players and coaches for the season. He inspired the crowd with his story on becoming an amputee.
Here are Massaquoi's words of wisdom:
"I remember this time right here. These times where you’re bonding with your teammates. You’re in this environment trying to go D1, trying to win state championships. You are trying ultimately to get to the NFL, and I’m from North Carolina.
I think that we have better football, but I hear that Georgia has great football itself, and slight correction, the school I went to we won 109 games in a row. We won seven state championships in a row. We never lost a game.
And people ask, ‘how did you guys do it?’ ‘What’s the secret sauce to winning all those games to doing what you’re doing?’ and the thing is we just expected to win.
Our thing was creating winning moments the way that we practiced the way that we approached each game. We didn’t just show up and think we were better than each other.
And thinking about my accident if you look at my hand right now, you can see that I’m an amputee. That moment I thought I was creating a winning moment.
I thought by going out and doing something that I’ve always done, riding ATV with friends that it was going to be a winning moment, and it actually started out as a win. Going out, loading the ATVs, going to the gas station, putting gas in it everybody looking at the ATVs saying ‘oh wow, these big ATVs. We’re excited.’
We get into the fields and you feel the [*sound of engine*]. Something started as a win ended up with me being on the ground in pain, blood everywhere. So you think, how does something that starts as win, everyone here working hard end up into a loss.
See if you’re not careful, the thing that you think is going to be a win can also be a loss.
Everybody is working hard. Everybody is working out in the hot sun. Everybody is doing the same thing, and just because you did it last year doesn't guarantee success this year. Just because somebody else went D1 last year doesn't guarantee success this year.
The thing I will say about my high school even though we have the longest public school win streak in the history of all of football is that we haven’t won a state championship since 2006. We haven’t had an undefeated season since 2006.
So what happened there-- we lost our way. We lost our way.
When I was on ground and just thinking about what’s happening and going to the hospital, one thing I noticed that one, that this moment I thought was a win was no longer a win became very real to me, and going through the process of surgery and therapy, my physical therapist told me 'each day I want you to find a win' and I’m looking I’m missing my fingers and I’m like what does that mean?
Each day I want you to find a win, so I really thought about it.
He said the first one is you saw your hand. That’s a win. You got your staples out. That’s a win. You don’t have to have surgery anymore. That’s a win.
But, anyone can find a win. That’s just about changing your perspective.
Each day has a win for everybody.
The fact that you want to practice is a win and the fact you showed up on time, the fact you work hard-- those are all wins. But, the thing I started to notice is that you can actually create a win.
The first hospital I went to they actually airlifted on a hospital down to another hospital because they felt someone else was more equipped to handle my surgery. Originally, My first doctor I had said we are going to have to take everything off; thumb, all your fingers, everything, and if you notice I still have my thumb-- the most important finger.
And what I’ve learned in that moment is that doctor actually created a win. Instead of me losing all of my fingers, I was able to save one.
And it wasn’t something that he had just done. It wasn’t something like it was this guy was better equipped. He put in the extra work. He spent more time in school. He had more practice. He did all the other things the other surgeons didn’t do, so he was able to create a win.
For you guys, you are going to have to go further. You are going to have to practice harder. The guy that's across the street, you’re going to have to work harder than him. You guys the guys that are in this room you’re going to dictate whether your team is going to be successful or not by how you approach the game.
Each coach is going into the season saying our game plan is better than so-and-so’s. Each player is going in saying we are going to do this, but if you are not actively trying to create wins then those wins that you think are going to happen are going to turn into losses really fast.
So, you have two choices, you can create a win or suffer a loss. There’s no in between.
I wish everyone the best of luck."
