After a potentially career-ending shoulder injury left quarterback Drew Brees without a team—and facing the daunting task of having to learn to throw a football all over again—coaches and commentators across the NFL wondered, Will he ever come back?
When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, leaving more than 80 percent of the city underwater and almost two-thirds of the population homeless and displaced, people the world over wondered, Will the city ever come back?
And with their stadium transformed into a makeshift refugee camp, forcing the Saints to play their entire 2005 season on the road, legions of sports fans wondered, Will the Saints ever come back?
Four years later, not only have Drew Brees, the Saints, and the city of New Orleans come back, they have returned stronger and better than ever before. They took their inspiration from Finish Strong by Dan Green and strong leadership and went to the top.
Set amid the backdrop of one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, Coming Back Stronger is the ultimate comeback story, not only of one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, but also of a city and a team that many had all but given up on.
Drew’s inspiring message of hope and resilience proves that with enough faith, determination, and heart, you can overcome any obstacle life throws your way and not only bounce back but come back stronger than you ever imagined possible.
Review: Sports bios are normally not my preferred reading. I love football, but not enough to read memoirs of it stars!BUT, this is THE quarterback who lead the Saints to the Superbowl, and has done SO much for the community thru his Brees Dream Foundation, and I wanted to read the book to learn more about him and his rise in the sport.
To say his story is inspirational is an understatement. Drew overcame multiple injuries that could have ended his football career twice. Faith in God and his wife's support kept him going and New Orleans Saint's faith in him, led him to our city over Miami when he was cut from San Diego. As he says, "if God leads you to it, he will lead you thru it".
Drew ends the book with some thoughts of what he would say to anyone he was talking to that I think are very true and applicable for anyone, involved in sports or not:
- find a mentor- someone who has a solid foundation that can show you the way
- don't give up- if you get knocked down, get back up and hold your ground. commitment means refusing to give yourself an excuse to fail
- turn your defeats into triumphs-the greatest opportunities are those that test us the most
- dream- if your mind can dream it, you CAN achieve it
- hope- you have to believe in soemthing bigger than yourself in order to come back after a disappointment or loss
- be flexible-you may be being lead away from the path you thought you wanted for a good reason. God works anonymously!
- don;t be afraid to take a few steps back- sometimes you have to go back, regroup and try again to succeed
- remember who you are- we are each created for a purpose and by doing some things every day that are true to ourselves, our true purpose will show itself
If you are going to read a sports book, this is one to read to be inspired and to see why the winning season meant SO much the Gulf Coast!The day to day overcoming of adversity will inspire you and hopefully you will find something in the book that helps you!
Disclosure
/ Disclaimer: I was offered this book, free of charge,from Tylendale Press, for review on this blog. No
other compensation,
monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for
this post. Nor was I told how to review the book.