You have to love football.

Because in the NFL, one minute a coach is telling you:

“Take a seat.”

And years later, you’re standing in Canton next to a bronze statue of yourself.

That’s quite the career turnaround.

Drew Brees officially took his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday, surrounded by the Who Dat Nation, standing in front of a bronze bust that basically says:

“Yeah… remember all those people who doubted me?”

And here’s the crazy part.

Drew Brees got benched THREE TIMES.

Three!

Most people get benched once and start updating their résumé.

Brees got benched three times and ended up with a bronze head in Canton.

I guess perseverance works.

During his Hall of Fame speech, Brees talked about Marty Schottenheimer, the coach who helped shape his career.

And apparently Marty also helped teach him another important lesson:

There are other quarterbacks on the roster.

Doug Flutie.

Philip Rivers.

And Drew Brees, trying to convince everybody that he belonged.

Brees admitted the first two times he got benched, he deserved it.

But that third time?

Ohhhh, he still hasn’t gotten over that one.

And I absolutely love it.

Here’s a man standing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next to a bronze version of his own head, and he’s basically saying:

“Coach, I love you… but you got that one wrong.”

That’s how you know you’re comfortable with your legacy.

Because Brees isn’t pretending the adversity didn’t happen.

He’s saying:

“It happened. It hurt. And I used it.”

That’s the part people sometimes don’t understand about adversity.

Nobody likes being told they’re not good enough.

Nobody likes getting replaced.

Nobody enjoys sitting on the sideline watching somebody else do the job they believe they should be doing.

But sometimes adversity doesn’t show up to destroy you.

Sometimes adversity shows up to introduce you to the person you’re capable of becoming.

Brees eventually left San Diego and headed to New Orleans.

And Saints fans should probably send the Chargers a thank-you card every Christmas.

Because what happened next was special.

Drew Brees and Sean Payton became one of the defining quarterback-coach combinations of their generation.

They won a Super Bowl.

They changed the culture of the Saints.

And Brees became one of the greatest passers we’ve ever seen.

The numbers?

Absolutely ridiculous.

80,358 passing yards.

571 touchdown passes.

Second all-time behind Tom Brady in both categories.

Twenty years in the NFL.

Twenty years of preparation.

Twenty years of pressure.

Twenty years of criticism.

Twenty years of injuries.

And twenty years of getting hit by defensive linemen who probably weighed more than my first car.

But when Brees talked about why he played for 20 years, he didn’t spend his speech bragging about statistics.

He talked about his teammates.

And that’s what stood out.

He talked about waking up every day wanting to commit, sacrifice and give his teammates everything they deserved.

Because there’s a difference between having a great career…

and having a career people remember.

The statistics tell us what you did.

The people around you tell us who you were.

And that’s what made this Hall of Fame class so powerful.

LARRY FITZGERALD

Then came Larry Fitzgerald.

Seventeen seasons.

One team.

Arizona.

Eleven Pro Bowls.

1,432 receptions.

17,492 receiving yards.

121 touchdown catches.

Basically, Larry Fitzgerald spent 17 years making defensive backs question every career decision they had ever made.

But Fitzgerald’s speech wasn’t about himself.

It was about the people who helped him become Larry Fitzgerald.

His son, Devin, introduced him.

And Fitzgerald talked about being a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings when he was growing up.

Think about that.

This kid was walking around the Vikings organization watching guys like John Randle, Chris Doleman, Randall McDaniel and Warren Moon.

Most kids were looking for autographs.

Larry Fitzgerald was getting a free master’s degree in football.

Then he talked about Cris Carter and Randy Moss.

Later, Kurt Warner and Emmitt Smith.

That’s not a football Rolodex.

That’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s group chat.

Fitzgerald explained how Warner pushed him to improve his preparation, consistency and accountability.

And that’s an important lesson.

Because the people who care about you the most aren’t always the people telling you how great you are.

Sometimes they’re the ones telling you:

“You’re not good enough yet. Get better.”

That’s accountability.

And Fitzgerald’s message at the end of his speech was even bigger:

Don’t just pursue excellence for yourself.

Help other people pursue it, too.

That’s good advice whether you’re playing football, building a business, raising a family…

or just trying to survive Monday morning without throwing your alarm clock through the wall.

LUKE KUECHLY

Then there was Luke Kuechly.

Thirty-five years old.

Hall of Famer.

Thirty-five!

At 35, some of us make a sound just getting out of a chair.

Luke Kuechly was getting a bronze bust.

And the man only played eight NFL seasons.

Eight.

But somehow he packed enough accomplishments into those eight years to make it feel like he played twenty.

Five-time All-Pro.

Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Defensive Player of the Year.

And one of the smartest linebackers of his generation.

Kuechly didn’t just play football.

He studied football.

The man wasn’t watching film.

He was practically preparing for the bar exam.

But Kuechly also made one of the most difficult decisions an athlete can make.

After suffering multiple concussions, he walked away from the game in part to protect his long-term health.

That’s bigger than football.

Because when you’re young, you think the game is everything.

Then life reminds you:

There is supposed to be a life after the game.

Kuechly understood that.

And now he’s standing in Canton.

ROGER CRAIG

Then there was Roger Craig.

And his story brought a completely different emotion to the ceremony.

Craig revealed that he is living with vascular dementia.

That’s difficult to hear.

But his football legacy?

That isn’t going anywhere.

Craig was the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and record 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.

Only Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffrey have done it since.

Back then, Roger Craig wasn’t just a running back.

He was basically the original:

“Give me the ball and I’ll figure it out.”

Run it?

Sure.

Catch it?

Sure.

Block?

Sure.

Need somebody to do something nobody else wants to do?

Give Roger the ball.

But even after everything he accomplished, Craig talked about spending much of his career trying to prove that he belonged.

And that hit me.

Because that’s what so many athletes are doing.

And honestly?

That’s what so many of us are doing in life.

Trying to prove we belong.

Trying to prove we’re good enough.

Trying to prove we deserve the opportunity.

Trying to convince somebody else to see what we already see in ourselves.

And sometimes, you spend so much time worrying about whether you belong…

you don’t realize you’re already building something special.

THAT’S WHAT CANTON IS REALLY ABOUT

That’s what this Hall of Fame ceremony was really about.

Not the bronze busts.

Not the numbers.

Not the gold jackets.

The journey.

Drew Brees got benched.

Larry Fitzgerald started out as a ball boy.

Luke Kuechly walked away from football before he was ready.

Roger Craig is dealing with a devastating illness.

Four completely different journeys.

Four completely different stories.

But they all ended up in the same place.

Canton.

And that’s the funny thing about life.

Sometimes the moment you think you’re being pushed backward…

is actually the moment you’re being prepared to move forward.

Drew Brees got benched three times.

Now he’s a Hall of Famer.

Larry Fitzgerald started as a ball boy.

Now he’s got a bust in Canton.

Luke Kuechly walked away from football at 28.

Now he’s a Hall of Famer at 35.

Roger Craig spent years proving he belonged.

Now nobody can question it.

So maybe that’s the lesson.

If somebody tells you to sit down…

don’t panic.

If somebody tells you you’re not good enough…

keep working.

If somebody doubts you…

let them.

Because sometimes the people who don’t believe in you today…

are going to be the same people watching you succeed tomorrow.

And if everything goes really, really well…

maybe they’ll bronze your head.

Because apparently…

THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW YOU’VE MADE IT.