Discipline vs Talent

"Wasted Talent"

 I had the opportunity to watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Marcus Dupree again entitled  "The best that never was". He was the probably the best running back to ever come out of high school. Dupree was recruited by every school in the country and eventually landed at Oklahoma. This kid was 6'3" 230 lbs and ran a 9.5 100 in 1982. At that time a kid in high school that was his size was a lineman and no one was running that fast.

 Marcus was an instant star for the Sooners during his freshman year and during the middle of his sophomore season he just decided to leave school because he felt like the coaches were being too hard on him. He went to the new pro league the following spring called the USFL, that eventually folded, but he injured his knee and that pretty much ended his career at 20 years old.

"Talent will only take you so far"

Talent is only a small part of the equation. Just because a person is born with a certain amount of talent doesn't mean that they'll automatically become successful. So many times we've seen gifted people become washed up because they wanted to by-pass the natural order of things.

Remember Maurice Clarett from Ohio State in 2001? This kid had all of the talent in the world, only to end up a "has-been"? He fell on his face because he didn't respect the game or more importantly life. Clarett tried to leave school early because he didn't want to wait until his junior year to go into the NFL like the rule states. He thought that he could by-pass the natural order of things to do what he wanted to do and life spiralled out of control from there.

Life is about rules and boundaries and we must respect them not only on the field but most importantly off of the field. These guys are examples of what happens when parents fail to teach their children that talent will only take you so far. Discipline is the key to success! In order to capitalize on the talent that God has given us we have be humble enough to be instructed by people that know more than we do.

Vince Lombardi once said, "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary". I've seen guys with the talent of Michael Jordan end up becoming playground legends in the projects in my hometown of Gary, In. because they didn't handle their business either in the classroom or in life. Having talent means nothing if you don't respect it.

I constantly say that there are six words that can save your life, relationships, career etc. They are, "Do What You're Supposed To Do". It's that simple! If you can follow that piece of advice you can capitalize on the gifts that God has blessed you with. Otherwise, you will become a "has-been" or should I say a  "never-was" like Dupree and Clarett.

The most talented people aren't the ones that typically become successful. Those people that exhibit the most work ethic are the one's that become the most successful. The folks that out work and out hustle all of the rest are the one's that win the championships. It's good to have talent but it's even better to be diligent. The word of God says, "Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealth", Proverbs 10:4.

So let's be diligent today in our efforts so that the talent we've been blessed with will be seen by the world. There is a colloquialism that says, "If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and makes a loud crashing noise and no one is around to hear it, did it really make a sound?" Let's not be that tree!


Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
 Twitter:@jaygravesreport