First Things First: Life lessons from Drew Brees

Julie Baumgardner
Julie Baumgardner

Thousands of New Orleans Saints fans have been very vocal about the Saints' loss in the playoffs. They say they were robbed of an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl due to a game-changing missed call by a referee.

Football fans around the world have seen the response from players who were impacted by such a huge loss: sullen faces, tears and a painful press conference where the magnitude of the loss got drilled down even further.

So after Drew Brees' loss to the Rams in the playoff game, one might expect him to be off somewhere alone, licking his wounds; that is, if you don't know Drew Brees.

Facebook user John McGovern, who was actually at the game, posted the following statement, along with a picture.

"This has been on my mind all day I don't know who took this picture, but I am in the group of people up against the wall to the right of the goal post. A couple hours after the game was over and the cameras were all gone, I stood and watched a man who was without a doubt THE most affected by the inexcusably ignored event that changed an entire season put everything aside and take care of what is most important. Most people would have wanted to go home and not even speak to anyone. Instead, he laughed and played with his kids and, as seen here, even held a football for his son to kick a field goal. If kids are looking for a professional athlete to look up to, they can find no one better than this man. Drew Brees makes me very proud to be a New Orleans Saints fan."

Perhaps his children knew how big this loss was for their father, but it's quite possible they had no clue because of how Brees handled the situation. In fact, Brees has been quoted before reminding people that at the end of the day, it's a game.

The true character of a man reveals itself in the most challenging and difficult moments. Children young and old pay attention and take Dad's lead.

Sometimes it's hard to separate one's identity from these situations or to not take it personally, but what we do in the face of adversity teaches children important lessons, like how to deal with disappointment, placing value on what matters and how to handle failure.

Here are three takeaways from watching Drew Brees interact with his kids after the controversial ending to the football game.

* Deal with extreme disappointment in a healthy way. Disappointment is inevitable. When dads model how to walk through disappointment, talk about it, work through it and move forward, they are showing their children how to encounter and deal with hard situations.

* Place value on the things that really matter. How Dad deals with his relationships when he experiences disappointment sends a powerful message about what he values most. The fact that Brees was out on the field playing and laughing with his children after such a huge loss lets his kids know they are more important than a game. Whether they innately understand that today or figure it out a few years from now, it is a powerful play for sure.

* Don't allow failure (real or imagined) to define you. Sometimes it's really tempting to allow failure to invade your DNA and define who you are as a person. The most important lesson about failure is that it is not final. It is a moment in time where one has an opportunity to glean important and helpful life lessons for the future.

Whether it's a disagreement with their spouse, a toxic work situation, a car that breaks down, a financial setback or the loss of a championship game that was seemingly stripped right out of his hands, how Dad responds sends a powerful message to his children about what matters most in life.

Julie Baumgardner is president and CEO of family advocacy nonprofit First Things First. Email her at julieb@firstthings.org.

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