“I’ve got big news!”

“How big?”

“Texas high school football big!”

 Integrity beats athletic ability, hands down. Even in schools, the “character counts” award promotes ‘responsibility, respect, caring, self discipline, trustworthiness, citizenship, fairness and teamwork.’ Nowhere on that list did it mention athletic ability. People place too much importance on athletic prowess when they should be focusing more on character and integrity.

If someone lacks personal integrity, how are they expected to add to the integrity of a sports team? While someone may be good at athletics, it will be their character that gets them further than any physical abilities.

 While it may be argued that a person’s character and integrity is a result of athletic experience (how they were treated due to varying athletic abilities) humans begin to develop their own personality long before they’re put into any situation that involves being athletic.     

The only solution for this problem would be to follow the time strengthened words of “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.” So much for avoiding clichés like the plague.

Character will always triumph over athletic ability. Always. It’s time the public began focusing more on the character of their athletes than just how far they can throw a ball or how fast they can run.