Football and Autism

Meet Courtland Hale.  At the age of three he was diagnosed with Austism.  He did not let that hold him back from playing football.  Today he is a 6′4″, 270 lb high-school defensive tackle.

Cortland encourages special needs kids to get involved in sports and other activities as therapy.

Winning the 5th Quarter - life lessons

The NFL did a study a few years back and surveyed 1000 players who had been out of the league for at least four years. What they found was staggering: 87% were either divorced, having serious financial issues, or were dealing with drug/alcohol problems!

When I graduated college and stopped playing football, my finances too were depleted, and to the point that the State of Ohio helped me with welfare assistance.  But by applying the lessons I myself learned on the football field, I have since become a highly successful entrepreneur, have spoken to groups in ten countries, and am a published author a couple times over.

In my latest book, Winning in the 5th Quarter, I write that, “Football Players are told from grade schools to the professional level that the most important quarter in football is the fourth quarter. The only quarter that matters at all however is the 5th Quarter. This is the quarter we all play in, when the game ends and life begins.”

When my oldest son Robbie started playing football, he leveraged the life lessons the game could teach him. “To even play the game of football you have to execute the core principles of success,” I write in Winning in the 5th Quarter. “If you carry those principles forward to the 5th Quarter (Life) you will be successful and happy. When my son decided to dedicate himself to try to achieve a Division I football scholarship I had to ensure that whether he did or did not achieve his goal, he understood the true secret of football: winning… in the 5th quarter.”

According to the National Sporting Goods Association, statistics show that close to twenty million Americans over the age of seven participate in some form of organized football play.  But football is more than just a grueling physical sport; it is a microcosm for life.  “This book is nothing less than a guide for lifelong success,” says Grant Teaff, Executive Director of American Football Coaches Association. “The messages and concepts are timeless. They will have a profound impact on everyone who reads this book and more importantly uses it to create a foundation for happiness and achievement.”

Football player or not, we all need to understand how to leverage the principles of success that football offers us all.  Parents and coaches need to learn how to stress the life lessons football offers to their children and players. Players need to learn how to apply the lesson they learn on the field, off the field.

My goal in life is to reach out to as many players, coaches, parents, and people as possible to share my experiences and help them and their families realize their dreams.  Through the book, Q5 Workshops, personal life coaching, and a TV show my team and I are working on, I am on a mission to help people understand just how to use football as a foundation for lifelong success.

Head football coach of Rice University, David Bailiff, says, “We tell players that attend Rice University they are attending for fifty years not just four. We talk to them about the 5th Quarter their first day here. Bob Beck has expressed this message in the exact way I would like every player and parent to understand. This book will become part of our culture.”

Winning in the 5th Quarter
By Bob Beck

Teen succeeds as football coach despite down syndrome

Patrick Nicholson is the assistant coach of the high-school OLPH Warriors football team.  Patrick is a passionate teenager who loves family and football.  Patrick also suffers from Down Syndrome.

Enjoy this video.

The Express Movie

Based on a true story, The Express follows the extraordinary life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to with the Heisman Trophy and led Syracuse to its first national championship in 1959.  He was the first selection in the 1962 NFL draft, picked by the Cleveland Browns, but died of leukemia before playing a game in the NFL.  His fight for equality and respect forever changed the face of American sports and his story continues to inspire new generations.

Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania coal-mining country, Davis hurdled social and economic obstacles to become one of the greatest running backs in college football history.

President John F. Kennedy followed Davis’ career and in 1963, when Davis’ hometown of Elmira, N.Y. chose to celebrate his life, Kennedy sent a telegram, reading:

“Seldom has an athlete been more deserving of such a tribute. Your high standards of performance on the field and off the field reflect the finest qualities of competition, sportsmanship and citizenship. The nation has bestowed upon you its highest awards for your athletic achievements. It’s a privilege for me to address you tonight as an outstanding American, and as a worthy example of our youth. I salute you.”

What about the view of Davis by people in today’s NFL?  Bill Belichick recently spoke to 100 students about Ernie Davis and The Express.  In a great article from Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe, Belichick talked about Davis and is quoted as saying the following:

“It’s a sad story, because he was such a great player and such a great person, and loved by everybody,” said Belichick. “He never really got the chance to play pro football.

“When he was diagnosed, he had been asked a couple of times if he felt sorry for himself, was he mad about what happened, was it fair that it was happening to him? I thought what he said was very profound. He said, ‘I’m 23 years old, and I think I’ve lived a fuller life in my 23 years than most people do when they live their entire lives. I’ve had such great experiences in my life, so I don’t have any regrets.’

“That’s kind of the way he lived his life. It’s really a tremendous story.”

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