Birth of the Gun's Quotes

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“The greatest mistake a man can make is to be afraid of making one.”
-Elbert Hubbard

It's official! Football season has started, so it's only appropriate that this quote be posted this week. Why you ask?

I played football in high school. Not a lot of people know that, and for good reason: I was the bench-warmer.

We played a high school by the name of Platte County (we called them PC) at Platte County one year. At the time, they were a football dynasty, and actually played 30-something straight games undefeated over about three years. We knew we were going to get our butts handed to us, and we did.

Before the game, in the locker room, I noticed a banner on the wall. It caught my attention while I was getting dressed. It read, simply, ‘“The greatest mistake a man could make is to be afraid of making one.’ -Elbert Hubbard,” in italicized blue type, on a plain white background. It hit me. I had never, ever considered that before. All of a sudden, I saw a major reason why I wasn't successful in football. I played scared. I practiced scared. I didn't want to get hurt, nor did I want to embarrass myself in front of the crowd, (or especially my dad) so I played/practiced so conservatively and so frightened that the only thing I could do was, well, not play.

Because PC destroyed the varsity in only three quarters, I (the 3rd string QB) got to play that game. I decided I was going to try to apply this quote. I was going to give it a little more than I had, and I ended up leading the offense to a touchdown. Who knew?

Of all the wonderful memories that I have of high school, and there are a lot of great ones, this one sticks out the most.

I'm not going to say that I could have been a great high school athlete if I just simply had a different outlook or attitude. There are a lot of things that play into that, and I didn't have most of them. However, I can say that it did help.

That quote truly was a turning point in my life. It helped me to realize that I had to change my attitude, that it was what was holding me back, before anything or anybody else.

So it is appropriate that now, at the start of football season, that this quote get posted. Why? Because on a football field in Platte County, MO, in a locker room in the basement, I took my first (life-changing) quote home.

...and the Gun's Quotes were born.