I squeezed my 300-pound frame into the seat at Texas Stadium. Far below me my Dallas Cowboys teammates were on the field warming up to face the Kansas City Chiefs, a critical mid-December game. It killed me not to be down there.<\/p>\n
I glanced at the guy to my left, frail, thin, a cane resting against his leg. He put out a bony, calloused hand that vanished in mine. \u201cRyan Odens,\u201d he said. \u201cYou look like you\u2019ve played some ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I\u2019m an offensive lineman for the Cowboys,\u201d I said. \u201cJust on the practice squad. Coach doesn\u2019t even let us on the sideline on game day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, wait\u2019ll I tell everybody back in Iowa I sat next to a Cowboy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I forced a smile. His enthusiasm only reminded me how far I had to climb. Fourteen weeks into my rookie season, I hadn\u2019t played a single down. I knew what I had to do: get stronger, hit harder, read the blitz quicker.<\/p>\n
I tried not to lose hope. But already I was on my second team. Dallas had just picked me up from Detroit. If I failed here, next season I\u2019d be watching the games on TV with Mom and Dad in Gig Harbor, Washington. Would I ever get to start in the NFL?<\/p>\n
Dallas got the ball first. The Cowboys QB that day, Drew Bledsoe, took the snap and threw a bullet to a wide receiver streaking downfield. Ryan struggled to his feet with his cane and pumped his free hand in the air. \u201cAll right!\u201d he yelled.<\/p>\n
Man, Ryan was a big-time fan. He\u2019d hop up and yell every time the Cowboys made a big play. Whatever had happened with his legs didn\u2019t keep him from showing his spirit. We talked between downs. Finally, I said, \u201cDo you mind my asking what happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRolled my truck five years ago going around a curve,\u201d he said. \u201cBroke my spine, five vertebrae. The doctors said I\u2019d never walk again. Turned out it was the best thing that ever happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just then a Dallas running back broke free for the big first down and we never got back to the accident. The Cowboys scored the winning TD with 26 seconds to go. We stood to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me give you my number,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cIf you\u2019re ever in Iowa give me a call. I\u2019d love to show you my farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d I said, giving him my number. Iowa? I didn\u2019t expect I\u2019d be passing through there anytime real soon.<\/p>\n
Day after day I put in extra hours in the weight room, Alabama blasting on my iPod. Then I\u2019d go back to my apartment and pore over the playbook until I fell asleep exhausted.<\/p>\n
Was I making any headway? I was going up against the best of the best. Even my prayers seemed to fall short of the mark.<\/p>\n
The Cowboys lost two of the last three games and missed the playoffs, not that I had anything to do with it. I flew back to Detroit to clean out the apartment I\u2019d rented there. I\u2019d just tossed the last box in my car when my cell phone rang.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey man,\u201d a voice on the other end said, \u201cit\u2019s Ryan Odens. From Iowa. We met at the Cowboys-Chiefs game. I figure you\u2019re heading home soon. Why don\u2019t you swing by here on the way?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUh, well, I guess I could,\u201d I said. \u201cJust for the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was bleary-eyed when I pulled up to his house in Sibley, Iowa, after 12 hours on the road. Ryan met me out on the porch. \u201cI hope you\u2019re hungry,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to my mom\u2019s for dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hobbled down the stairs to his truck, his cane barely enough to support his wobbly legs. But he just kept at it. I climbed in the passenger side. \u201cWhat do you grow here?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorn and beans,\u201d he said. \u201cMy brother and I farm about twelve hundred acres. I couldn\u2019t have done it without Easter Seals. They paid for a hoist so I could get back on my tractor.\u201d<\/p>\n
He popped a CD in the player. Alabama\u2019s \u201cCan\u2019t Keep a Good Man Down\u201d pulsed through the speakers\u2014one of the songs I lifted weights to. I thought about how difficult it was to push myself day after day. Where does this guy find the strength?<\/p>\n
We got to his mom\u2019s house. Ryan opened the front door to a living room full of people. His mom came in from the kitchen. \u201cWe\u2019re so glad you could make it,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope you like roast beef and mashed potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019d you know?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
We sat down and Ryan said grace. I took some meat from the platter, then took a bite. It practically melted in my mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s it like being on the Cowboys?\u201d someone asked. It felt odd, being the center of attention. Who knew if I\u2019d even make the team next year?<\/p>\n
But they didn\u2019t seem to care. Soon they had me talking about growing up in Gig Harbor, my dad\u2019s veterinary practice and his creaky old Fleetwood.<\/p>\n
It was close to midnight when Ryan and I headed back to his place. I was dragging, and Ryan had to be tired too but he was belting out the words to \u201cForty Hour Week.\u201d Amazing how he kept going and going. There was something I\u2019d been meaning to ask him\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThat thing you said back in Dallas about the accident being a good thing,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat did you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He was quiet for a moment. \u201cI thought if I just pushed myself hard enough I\u2019d walk again,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I couldn\u2019t. I wasn\u2019t near strong enough, physically or mentally. It had been three months. I didn\u2019t know where to turn.<\/p>\n
“One night I cried out to God. I said, \u2018Show me you\u2019re really there.\u2019 The next day I took my first step in the therapy pool. Mom was there, like she\u2019d been all along. My family, so many people in town\u2014they gave me so much support.<\/p>\n
“A few months later I was driving a tractor again. It was tough. Still is. But I know I\u2019m not doing it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I peered out the window into the darkness. All these months I\u2019d been comparing myself to pro football players\u2014huge, powerful behemoths. And yet it was this skinny Iowa farmer that I felt a real connection with.<\/p>\n
The next morning I woke early and went out onto the porch. The crisp winter air felt fresh and invigorating, inviting. Before long Ryan came out. \u201cWell, you\u2019ve got a good day for driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking I\u2019d stay another night if it\u2019s okay with you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Ryan beamed. \u201cThat\u2019s great!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cBut I hope you don\u2019t mind me putting you to work later on.\u201d<\/p>\n
After breakfast we drove out to a field with a section of broken fencing. Ryan grabbed a bent metal pole, straining to wrestle it out of the ground, his legs bowing painfully. \u201cLet me get that, Ryan,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNah, I can handle it,\u201d he said, grunting. He finally extracted it. \u201cYou drive the new one in.\u201d No problem. Then we spliced new barbed wire between the poles. \u201cReady for another?\u201d Ryan asked, his breathing labored.<\/p>\n
I looked at him in wonderment. Everything he did was a struggle, even walking, standing up. Things I took for granted.<\/p>\n
Ryan never quit. He had a different kind of strength, a strength that didn\u2019t come from working out and weight lifting, but from faith and determination, the things I needed most. It wasn\u2019t an accident that we\u2019d met.<\/p>\n
I ended up spending a week in Sibley. There\u2019s always something to do on a farm. But mostly I just wanted to hang with Ryan, two good old boys with a lot more in common than meets the eye.<\/p>\n
I just finished my seventh year in the NFL, the last two with Miami. I missed last season with a knee injury. I have another uphill battle ahead of me.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not worried, though. I love football, but it\u2019s not the most important thing. A year ago I married a woman I met in Dallas. Ryan was at the wedding. He\u2019s my best friend and a constant source of inspiration.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s funny. I wasn\u2019t where I wanted to be that day at Texas Stadium. But God put me exactly where I needed to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I squeezed my 300-pound frame into the seat at Texas Stadium. Far below me my Dallas Cowboys teammates were on the field warming up to face the Kansas City Chiefs, a critical mid-December game. It killed me not to be down there. I glanced at the guy to my left, frail, thin, a cane resting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[136],"tags":[44,51,197],"ppma_author":[1769],"class_list":["post-17817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-positive-living","tag-courage","tag-inspirational-stories","tag-motivational-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n