There I was, watching the Chicago Bears play the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. With less than a minute to go, Philadelphia scored a go-ahead touchdown, 16-15. On the following kickoff, the Chicago returner made an outstanding play. The quarterback then threw a great pass down the field for a big reception. With just seconds to play, Chicago maneuvered themselves into position to win the game. The kicker stepped on the field… calmly walked off his steps… and with his teammates counting on him, he missed the kick.
Game over. Heart break. Season ended.
Joe’s Perspective: At the end of every game, there is a winner and a loser (with the obvious exceptions of a tie). Sometimes you are going to be on the winning side and sometimes on the losing side. It’s why they say, “You can’t win ’em all.” Even Tom Brady lost a couple of Super Bowls and Nick Saban lost a couple of National Championship games. It’s inevitable.
This kicker, who has spent his entire life practicing for this kick, failed. He did his best and his best wasn’t good enough. He must have felt terrible. Social media was so mean to him. Many fans booed and forgot he was a human being. He will probably lose his job. Still, he shook the other team’s hands and he answered the questions from the media. It was quite impressive. I wondered to myself, if I would do the same thing on such a prominent stage.
Your Turn: What is your biggest failure on the athletic field and how did you handle it? Will you be better the next time you fail?
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The biggest failure I have done on the athletic field was just give up because we were losing by 30. I failed my coach, teammates, and myself and after that day I always say I will never do that again and work harder.
i went on the field hurt instead of telling my coach. From there everything went down hill, i wasn’t making any good plays and my leg got injured even worst than before. Next time i will do the right thing and let coach now.
My biggest fail is in the semifinals of a basketball tourney and I was at the free throw line to win the game and I missed and we lost the game. I was pissed and didn’t talk to anyone. Next time I will try to stay positive because my teammates look up to me and I will tell them everything will be okay.
In a tournament game in seventh grade, I had a wide open elbow shot. We ran the play just right and it was my turn to help the team. I missed the shot and we ended up losing by 2. Didn’t feel good.
Once in a basketball game we were down by 1 with 3 seconds left. I got fouled and it was 1 and 1. But, I ended up missing and we lost, and I blamed it all on me. What I should’ve done was kept my head up and practice my free throws.
one time in mini metro i threw the ball and it took 12 seconds out of the game because we were losing and what i should’ve done was just realize that i’m not going to win every basketball game i play in.
In 7th grade AAU, we were tied with a couple minutes left. I think we must have gotten too cocky because we had comeback by so much, but we let our guard. The other team took this as a changes to crush us, and now I know never to get too cocky in a game.
During a basketball game I got mad at the players on the other team and the refs and took my head out of the game and didn’t play well and our team lost. feels rough.
During a basketball game I got mad at the players on the other team and the refs and took my head out of the game and didn’t play well and our team lost. feels rough. next time I will ignore the other players and keep my head in the game
The biggest failure I have had in the athletic field is getting cut from the volleyball team. I feel that I did not handle it with as much grace as I should have so next time I fail I will try to be more graceful about it.
My biggest failuler was in a soccer game and we were down by one with a minute to go and all my teammate were trying to score a goal but they didn’t go in. Then somebody passed to me and I could score, so I did but it hit the post and we ended up losing the game.
In my games for my city team we lose a lot and there was a game where I should have passed it to a teammate for an open three but instead I took it myself and missed. instead of getting mad at myself, I should just practice more and look to pass.
One of my biggest failures was when I was in an AAU game last year and we were playing a very good team. we were tied most of the game and went into overtime. Then, our tallest player got hurt and sprained her ankle. I let this be an exception for the rest of the game and it showed how poorly my team played and I felt bad.
Once in an AAU game last year I played against a really good team, and went into overtime against them. In overtime, One of our really tall player hurt her ankle. I used that as an excuse and I played very poorly the rest of the game, and they ended up winning. I will never do that again and have learned to always focus.
One time I was playing in a soccer game and we were tied 2:2 and I was right in front of the goal and I got an open shot but the ball hit the post and did not go in so we ended up tying the game.
One time I was just stranded there and one of the girls we were playing against pushed me and I pushed them back but I should have just ignored it and hope that the refs notice it.
Once, I got foul shots when the game was tied with seconds left. I missed both and we went into ot and lost
We were tied with seconds left in I got fouled. I missed both and we went into ot and lost
in a game I took a shot when I wasn’t open and I was block. My teammate next to me was wide open and I should have passed.
In youth football I was the quarterback. I was supposed to throw the ball to our receiver because he was 6’0 in 6th grade. Instead I just threw to the running back who got tackled it was for a 2 pt conversion to tie the game. Since we didn’t get it Middleton just kneed the ball with a minute left and we lost and went 6-1. I also was pissed and didn’t want to talk at all. Next time I will keep my head up and listen to my coach as well. I know I’m the quarterback and have to set a better example.
In one of my school games I was open a lot and got the ball and would shoot. I missed all of my shots. We lost the game. I should have just peeped my head up and kept shooting. And practice arhat shot a lot.
My biggest failure came in 6th grade youth basketball when my team had the ball down one with 10 seconds left. I made an ill advised pass and turned the ball over, causing us to lose the game. I was very upset with myself for a while, but I learned from it and haven’t done something like that in crunch time again
Not playing my hardest beacause the refs were really bad and I didnt want to foul out. I learned to not worry abour the refs and to play my hardest always
My biggest failure was putting in full effort in a game as captain and my coach had to pull me over to talk to me. She basically was telling me to get my head in the game because my team relies on me to carry our team. Therefore I had to stop clowning around and show that I deserved to be on this team. The lesson that I learned is to always play like I’m hungry for it and play like I earned my spot on the court.