Dear Brandon
Bostick,
Don’t blame yourself.
According to the statistics of the game, both teams
combined ran 135 plays. To put the weight of the world on your shoulders
because of one play is too much weight to bear. We can watch the replays of the
game until we are blue in the face and notice numerous plays that affected the
game. Twice in the first quarter, your
team had the ball inside the 10-yard line and could not cross the goal line. Is
that your fault? No. Take anyone of the five possessions that resulted in field
goals and convert ONE of those into a touchdown and all of this becomes moot.
We all make mistakes. Trust your instincts.
It is extremely easy for talking heads to sit on their
rear ends and criticize your decision to go after the ball instead of blocking
for Jordy Nelson. One, we’ve never been in that position as wannabe athletes.
Yes, sports media personalities love to bring attention to themselves and prove
how smart they are by carefully dissecting plays. At which point they can easily
enlighten us, the viewer, as to how the play SHOULD have played out. Most
viewers have never even played football beyond a high school level and have
zero notions as to the intricacies of the professional game. Being a tight end,
your instincts and job tell you to catch the football. Those instincts took over and the ball was
hanging in the air. You went after it. It didn’t work out like you planned.
Dust yourself off and live to fight another day.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for all of the idiots who hide behind the
façade of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to rip you to shreds
for the play. As you know, we fans can get very emotional about our teams and
the results of their play. The problem is the entitlement fans feel they are
deserved because of their fandom. It doesn’t work that way. Those fans that
have taken to social media to hate on you are one, not true fans. True fans
stick by their teams and athletes through thick and thin, in victory and in
defeat. Secondly, they are cowards. To hide
behind the veneer of social media where there are no repercussions for misuse
and/or hate mongering is completely gutless.
Don’t let this define you.
Yes, this is rather obvious and you will hear it often.
But I took the time to look up your journey to the NFL. Starting at a tiny
Division II college, Newberry College, in Newberry, South Carolina struck a
cord with me. I attended a small Division II college in southwest Missouri,
Southwest Baptist University. I befriended many of the football players at my
school. They were great athletes, however, many of them were playing the game
in order to get an education. There weren’t any delusions about the possibility
of playing in the NFL. One guy got an invite to Cowboys camp, but it opened my
eyes to the difficulty of making it in the NFL. You went undrafted in 2012 but
continued to follow your dream, work hard and were eventually signed by the
Packers in 2013. Your story is a fantastic story. Mr. Bostick, you play at the
highest level of professional football! According to the NCAA the probabilities
of making it to the professional level are astounding. Only 6.5% of high school
athletes play in college. And only 0.9% of those athletes make it to the
professional leagues. Added up, the chance of a high school athlete to make it
to the pros is 0.03%!! You, sir, are one in a million. Kudos to you. You have
defied the odds and made it to the NFL. This is but one play in your career.
Don’t let it define you.
Brandon, I am rooting for you. My hope is to see you on
the field next year for the Green Bay Packers living your dream of being a
professional football player. Let this moment be the fire that motivates you to
continue to prove all the naysayers wrong.
Oh, by the way, did I mention I’m a Bears fan?
Shawn
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