Boomer's Not a Baby

Boomer Grigsby is going to play fullback for the Chiefs this year.

Perhaps you're thinking "So what?" You may even be thinking "Who the heck is Boomer Grigsby?" Perhaps you are one of the oh-so-unfortunate souls who don't live for football, and who therefore fall into a deep six month depression as soon as the golden rays of summer fade from the sky. (Football is a great cure for that. Seriously. Try it. Then you just have to get from February to April, and there's Easter in there to help.)

Boomer Grigsby is, or was, a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs. He has played special teams, mainly, for the last couple of years. (Note to football challenged: The special teams are the prettiest and smartest fellows on the field. Okay, not really. They are the kicking and return squads.) Special teams players aren't on the field a whole lot. They were on the field punting too much last year for the Chiefs, but that's another story.

So Boomer wanted to play more, and he decided to talk to Coach Herm Edwards about switching to fullback, which he has sometimes played on the practice squad. But before he could approach the coach, Edwards came to him to ask if he'd consider moving over to the other side of the ball.

C'mon, admit it--that's a great story. You don't have to be a football fan to do a little "awwww" at that one. Especially if you hear what Boomer says about the switch: "I just wanted to play and help the team, do whatever I could to get out on the field."

That's a great attitude. If you've got an attitude like that, you're probably going to succeed. You may not succeed at the first thing you try. But that's part of life--trying things and finding we're not as good at them as we thought we'd be. Or finding that there are too many roadblocks along the way to success at that particular thing.

It's easy to give up and feel sorry for ourselves when we've given a lot to the pursuit of a particular dream and we come up short. But we can't do that. We've got to go on, to find another avenue, to try something new, to switch to fullback, if that helps.

I'll be praying for Boomer Grigsby this year. Not because I want the Chiefs to be successful--which I do, but I think praying for it would be a bit odd. I'll be praying for Boomer because he has shown courage and fortitude, and it would be nice for those attributes to be rewarded. I suppose they already have been. He's getting to take on a new challenge, and he seems like the type who will consider that reward enough.