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Let’s Talk Trash! MAY/JUNE 2018
©2018 The Keenan Group, Inc
NFL AGENT -Frank Gaitan Frank is a graduate from Florida State University with a major in Criminology and Criminal Justice. After graduating, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona with the goal of attending Law School. Instead, he found his career path changed which lead him into a more exciting career as a National Football League Agent. Remember Jerry Maguire? Frank will be contributing to Let’s Talk Trash!-news each issue. If you have questions for Frank, email: fgaitan@iconsmg.com. Or, send your questions to Let’s Talk Trash!-news at debbiekeenan@earthlink. net.
When Opportunity Knocks, Will You KnowWhat To Do?
I often get asked by the families of star athletes at all ages one common question, “What is the best advice can you give my son or daughter?” My answer is always the same, “Take advantage of the opportunity,” which is the same advice I give to the athletes themselves. You might be thinking that I am referring to the opportunity to get into a better high school, to get a college scholarship, or even the opportunity to make money in the pros. That may be a small portion of it, but only a small portion. Let me explain. As a star player, regardless of whether you are in junior high school, high school, college, or at the professional level, you all share a common trait: the community knows who you are. You are popular. You are the individual that other people want to be around. With that, we can all agree that the star player tends to receive a little different treatment then the average student or individual. Doors tend to open that are not necessarily open to everyone else. The question is, “Will you truly take advantage of those open doors?” You might, but most likely to a very small degree. Why is that? It’s simply because you don’t truly understand the benefits. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the value of something that doesn’t provide an immediate result. It’s human nature. How does an athlete take advantage of their unique platform? The answer is easy. Get out into the community, donate your time, shake as many hands as possible and be a good person to anyone and everyone. The one certainty in sports is that some day your
career will be over. Unfortunately, no one really knows when exactly that will be. For most, it will be as soon as high school ends. For a small few, it will be after college or maybe even the pros. That being the case, no one knows how long your lime light will last and it likely won’t last for very long. One other certainty in sports is, unless your the elite of the elite, like a Tom Brady, a Peyton Manning, or Michael Jordan, when your playing days are over, those doors that were once open, tend to close. Literally from one day to the next. I remember a story of player in the NFL that when his team retired his jersey, he had to buy a majority of his tickets to his own retirement event. The point I am making is to make sure you maximize the opportunities in front of you for as long as they exist, because nothing lasts forever. The true measure of how well you maximized your opportunities won’t likely be realized until later in your life, but I assure you they will. My best advice is regardless of whether you’re an elite athlete, a star musician, a fantastic artist, or whatever you might be, use your platform to touch as many peoples’ lives the best way possible along your way. You can never have enough people saying good things about you or have too many quality people in your corner. Plus, you never know when you might need that character reference or be sitting across from that person in an interview. Never give to receive, but rather because it’s the right thing to do. Take advantage of the opportunity.
The
Phyllis & Sloane Hunter
Diner
aaron@usstn.com c: (615)982-2998 w: (615)227-2275 f: (615)746-5211 ProjectManager AARONWOLFE
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