Not long afterwards, the team folded, and Cowan became a sports agent for Pro Players West. I don’t know how it came about, whether he saw potential in me and asked to represent me or if I went to him. Either way, he became my agent.

I remember sitting across from him at his office and telling him if I could only get into camp and put on a helmet, I could show people what I could do. Of course, that is what a thousand guys were saying, what a thousand guys believed. You had to believe it. You had to believe in yourself that way or you wouldn’t be there; you would not be putting it all on the line and sacrificing friends, loved ones and your future if you did not believe.

Having representation helped. It got me into free agent tryouts and when there was an open tryout, there was some notoriety by the coaching staff–Cowan must see something in him. But after running your forties and drills, etc…. a lot like the combines these days. These tryouts would narrow some five hundred plus participants down over a few days from a dozen to, sometimes, just three.

One tryout I made it down to seven, and they took three. One tryout I remember as if it were yesterday. I was in the final three and we were all offense linemen, and I believed I had outplayed them. Guys who had stayed around to see who would make it were coming over to me and slapping me on the back and congratulating me on the contract I was about to sign.

The last drill had been one-on-one pass blocking drills. They could not get past me. Not only were they not getting past me, but I was also stuffing them, stopping them in their tracks. It startled them. I had them on their heels. They had never seen someone I think pass block so aggressively. What I had learned from Coach Cowan had paid dividends.

I stood on the sidelines getting a drink of water when the offensive line coach for the Oklahoma Outlaws came walking over to me, scratching his head with the grimace on his face. I knew the look; I knew what was coming. I could only smile.

“How old are you? He asked.

“I’m twenty-five.”

“Yeah, see, those guys are only twenty-two and we think that by the time they’re your age, they will know what you know.”

“Sure, I understand.”

Those two guys were just out of college. Both were 6’5” and the Dallas cowboys had drafted one of them in the sixth round. I was three years out of college and was 6’ 1” ½. They had more upside, more potential. Sure, I understood, but the one thing I knew was they would never be a better pass blocker than me, because I had learned from one of the best and he had passed on his philosophy to me.

I shook the coach’s hand and walked away. I don’t know if those guys ever made it. I hope they did. A few months later, I was invited to try out with the Oakland Invaders and that didn’t work out either. After that, I called it quits. No regrets. I did all I could do. Sometimes the breaks don’t go your way. That’s something we’ve all learned playing the games we’ve played. If you are open to it, sports can be a tool for learning some of those great life lessons.

The last tryout with the Invaders, the coach, Dennis Ralston, called a few of us together when he was letting us go and gave a speech, and, although I cannot recall it word for word, it went something like this:

“You guys have come from all over the country to put your talents on the line against the best. You had to overcome the many fears you had about yourselves to walk on to this field. You had to believe in yourself and your abilities. Few people can do that. Few people ever give themselves that chance. Football is, as you all know, a numbers game. There just aren’t enough spots on the team for all of you. But if you take that belief in yourself that brought you here and you take that into the business world, you will succeed. I guarantee you will succeed. Thank you, men, and I wish the best of luck to all of you.”

Life is the big game. Keep that in perspective. We can do whatever we want or at least try. And there is no such thing as failure, only lessons in life, for life.

What I learned from Charlie is that as an offensive lineman, I had been in the mindset of playing defense. I was being passive regarding protecting the quarterback, reacting instead of acting, but Charlie returned my mindset to the offensive position and empowered me to affect the outcome of the engagement; at a certain point (the imaginary line on the field) I became the aggressor, I went on the offensive, and, as in the passing drill, so in life, if I really wanted to affect the outcome of my life I had to go get it.

 

 

Emmanuel Burgin is the author of Vagabond Blues, a novel about his season with the 1981 Minor League National Champion Twin City Cougars.
emmanuelburgin.com