Run Like a Champion Today

With the broadcast of the first NFL game this week (albeit pre-season), America caught its first whiff of Fall. The official kick-off to Football season is just around the corner.

I don’t know about you, but nothing quite inspires me like College football.  There’s something different about college ball. The players still have an innocence about them. They aren’t afraid of getting hurt, they’re still hungry for it, and they play their hearts out ‘til the final second on the clock.

It inspires me this time of year. And it inspires my running. So much so, I just loaded a compilation of the best college Fight Songs onto my iPod. Believe me, nothing works better for sprint training than pretending you’re running out of the tunnel and onto the field with the team at a home game. But, perhaps I’ve shared too much.

At any rate, my favourite quote during football season is the legendary “Play Like a Champion Today.”  Most fans associate the quote with Notre Dame football, but the fact is the quote originated at my alma mater, The University of Oklahoma, in the late 1940s through coach Bud Wilkinson. According to Wikipedia it was nearly four decades later, in 1986, that coach Lou Holtz requested a sign be made with the saying and hung in the Notre Dame locker room. But no matter, the quote serves its purpose – whether you’re in South Bend, or just South of Oklahoma City.

I love the sign because it’s simple, yet stirring. It conjures up images of champions who have gone before us – and the champion that lies within all of us. It doesn’t say, “Play well today” or “Stay safe out there.” It says, “Play Like a Champion Today.”

The original "Play Like a Champion Today" sign, on display today
at the Barry Switzer Center at The University of Oklahoma.


What’s your favourite sports quote? What gets you motivated?

Whatever it is, post it where you can see it. High-five it. Live it. Love it.