https://youtu.be/qua3pwff3_Y
Clemson Tigers freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a generational talent. Like John Elway, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, he has the type of skill which only comes around every 10-15 years. What makes the Cartersville (Ga) product so special though is not just his size (6′ 5″), his maturity, his football IQ, or rocket right arm. What makes Lawrence special is his character and faith. It is the type of human being he is.
As we approach Monday’s college football championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, I want to revisit this September 21, 2018 article written by Marcel Louis-Jacques of the Anderson Independent Mail. Louis-Jacques also references Lawrence’s interview shown above.
The following are 20 Quotes On The Faith And Leadership Of Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence I gleaned from the article. The words from Lawrence and those who know him well provide a glimpse into what makes him unique.
- Football Is What You Do. It Is Not Who You Are. – Lawrence said, “It’s kind of always been my personality. Football is important to me, obviously, but it’s not my life.”
- Your Faith is The Biggest Thing In Your Life – Lawrence continued, “It’s not the biggest thing in my life. I would say, my faith is.
- Situations Do Not Have To Define Leaders – Lawrence added, “I would say knowing who I am outside of that, so I just know no matter how big the situation is, it won’t define me.”
- A Leader’s Identity Should Be In Jesus Christ And Who He Says You Are – Lawrence concluded the interview by saying, “I put my identity in what Christ says, who He thinks I am and who I know that He says I am.”
- Your Value Is Not In What You Do On The Field, Boardroom Or Platform – Trevor’s high school coach Joey King said, “We do a lot of different stuff to where the kids understand that their value doesn’t just come from their performance on the field.”
- Great Leaders Remind People Where Their Value Is – Coach King added, “We’ve got 120 total kids in the program — well, 11 are going to play at a time. So if their success, or who they think they are is based on the results of what happens on that field out there, then we’re failing as coaches.”
- Leaders Must Embrace Their Role And Responsibility – Coach King continued, “That was something that he embraced more and more each year, especially his junior and senior year. You saw that it was his team and his role was to be the leader of the team.”
- Great Leaders Are Servant Leaders – Coach King concluded, “Just loving on the guys and serving them, which is what good leaders do.”
- People Are A Picture Of The Leader – Jeremy and Amanda Lawrence, Trevor’s parents, modeled what the Christian life looks like. Senior Pastor Don Hattaway of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cartersville has been the family’s pastor for over a decade. He noted, “That’s (reliable church attendance) always been impressive to me. It just underscores their desire to raise their children in the Lord.”
- Faithful Christian Leadership Is An Encouragement To Others – Hattaway added about the family’s attendance, “To watch that through the years has been a great encouragement to a lot of people, I believe.”
- Christian Leaders Should Be Polite – Hattaway said, “Trevor’s always been very polite” And then he added much more. Check out points 12-16 from Pastor Hattaway.
- Christian Leaders Should Be Hard-Working – “hard-working — he excels at everything he does.”
- Christian Leaders Should Always Be Respectful – “Always very respectful.”
- Christian Leaders Should Have Great Character – “I’m not at all surprised at his success on the field; he has certainly the physical ability and the mental aptitude to be an incredible leader. Beyond that, I think his character is more inspiring to me.”
- Christian Leaders Have Be Concern For People – “It’s not just what he does on the field, it’s how he carries himself. I know he has a concern for people; he always takes time to speak to people, even little kids.”
- Christian Leaders Should Show Kindness To Everyone – “A lot of people look up to him because of his position, but he’s always taken time to show kindness to everyone.”
- Christian Leaders Should Be Approachable – Jack Howell, the radio voice and public address announcer of the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes, said, “He can talk to anybody, it doesn’t matter who you are. A big sportscaster down to a neighbor next door, or just somebody off the street.”
- Leadership (In This Case Parents) Provide Direction – Howell added, “He’s able to relate to them, talk to them. His parents are the same way. A lot of time when you get a ball player that’s getting that much notoriety, what his parents will do sometimes is take it and run with it. But his parents were level-headed with it, they kept it down to a minimum.”
- Successful Leaders Emulate Successful Leaders – Coach King observed of Lawrence, “Emulating success. That makes a lot of people successful when they do what successful people do.”
- It’s Indescribable And Awesome To Watch Christian Leaders Do What God Has Called Them To Do – In a recent interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said of Lawrence, “He is just a special talent. It’s indescribable for a guy that’s a true freshman to manage the game and makes the decisions that he makes and just play wish such poise. It’s awesome to see.”
What is one thing about leadership you learned from Trevor Lawrence. BTW – I am predicting a 34-31 Clemson victory of Alabama Monday evening. The difference will be in the kicking game.
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