Hope for your financial life and beyond

The Ultimate Risk in Wasting a Play

Everyone knew Marshawn would get the football. He’d just run four yards on the previous play to push his team to the one-yard line. With less than a minute to go and the Super Bowl on the line the monster running back would surely bring a championship to his team with one more beastly plunge.

super bowl interceptionExcept his coach called for a pass play on 2nd down.

What?

The resulting interception thrown by Russell Wilson caused the dozens at my Super Bowl party to jump off the couch, screaming in disbelief (or triumph depending on their rooting interest).

After the game the Seattle coach was faced with questions from the media about the play call. To his credit he took full responsibility for the misfortune that befell his team. But his logic for making the call was curious to say the least.

In essence he said they didn’t have the right personnel on the field to match up with New England’s defense. So he chose to give away (#waste) that 2nd down play with a passing call and then get set up to call better plays on 3rd and potentially 4th down.

Give away a play…with the championship on the line.

Unthinkable.

The Risk in Giving Away Plays

Seattle got caught thinking about the better opportunities that might come in the future instead of relying on whom they had (a stud running back) and what they needed (one measly yard) in the moment.

(Not to mention they had other resources available to them in the moment – like a timeout – that could have allowed them to get the right personnel on the field for 2nd down.)

Of course hindsight is 20/20. Had the pass been a little better or if the receiver had run a cleaner route or if the defensive back had not anticipated the play because he had prepared and knew what was coming, the coach would have been praised as a genius. Precise execution and a lapse by the defense would have resulted in a touchdown.

However, none of those variables happened. Consequently their 3rd and 4th downs never came.

Life’s too precious and our daily circumstances too critical to be giving away plays.

Make the most of the resources you have and the moments that have been placed before you today.

Refuse to take any plays off. Don’t waste them. You aren’t guaranteed to have another shot on the next down.

Questions: Are you needlessly giving away moments of your life? Do you have a challenge putting off tasks in the hopes of getting to them later? How do you stay focused in the moment instead of daydreaming about opportunities in the future? What did you think of that last play call?

Next Post: 8 Amazing Christian Leaders

Prior Post: Does My Health Insurance Cover Dental Work?

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Comments

  1. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    Brian, as much as possible I just live for the moment as if it would be last, which I am trying to do always. And I always take risks.

  2. It was SO HARD to watch the game end like that! I did read an interesting article that Stephanie from The Empowered Dollar shared about how statistically, the pass play was the smarter one to call.. but it’s just about impossible to do anything but blame a bad play call. So there might be more than one financial lesson to learn here: there are always other factors involved and there’s hardly ever just one right, sure decision to make with our money and finances.

  3. I was waiting for a financial lesson from that one play from the Super Bowl. lol! I don’t even watch football or know the best calls, and even I still knew that was the dumbest play call in football history. I think the lesson I got from that is calculated risk. Sometimes you gotta take a chance and throw the ball from the one yard line (I’m still shaking my head), but after all other options are weighed. How would the benefit of taking that chance outweigh the cost. But in the end, we are all human and make pretty remarkable human mistakes. 🙂

    • “…but after all other options are weighed. ” Yes, I agree with that. The decision to throw would have been viewed differently had they already been unsuccessful with at least one running attempt.

  4. I try to use gratitude to stay grounded in the present. I used to spend a lot of time wishing parts of my life away to get to a certain moment. It sounds super hippie, but all there really is is the present.

    • “…use gratitude to stay grounded…” I think that’s a real good strategy Stefanie. Every moment is precious and we should be appreciative of the ones we are given.

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